The William Aldridge Foundation

The Foundation received a telephone call today from a young lady named Sarah Robinson with an enquiry asking if we knew of any Forces Families with remarkable children, aged between 8 - 14 who have taken on a caring role following the injury or bereavemnet of a parent or older sibling in Afghanistan, who would possibly willing to participate in a documentary for ITV1?

We asked for an outline of the documentaries content to pass on in order for any interested participants/families to come forward.....

If you or someone you know is interested in the following, please contact Sarah directly and let her know where you read about this request:

Many Thanks & Much love and respect to all our Forces Families x


“THE CHILDREN OF BRITAIN”

You may know our name already, but Mentorn is one of the UK’s most respected independent television producers with an output ranging from high profile, one-off documentaries for UK and international broadcasters to flagship current affairs series, amongst them Question Time for BBC One.


Mentorn has been commissioned to make an hour-long, one-off documentary for ITV1 provisionally entitled “The Children of Britain.” Authored by Antony Thomas, a director who has received over forty prestigious awards and gained an international reputation for his thoughtful, high-quality documentaries, this film will be a celebratory portrait of kids today, which places British children and their achievements in the spotlight.


Over the course of this film, we will follow the stories of a handful of remarkable children and young people whose achievements, often in the face of adversity, are inspiring and uplifting. In a climate where we’re often bombarded with negative images of young people, this film will be unashamedly positive in tone, and give the word back to children themselves who’ll be speaking in their own words about their own lives, and the issues that matter to them.


We are looking for children to take part in our programme between the ages of 8-14 whose stories reflect a range of different experiences. One of these is a child or young person who has had to take on the role of a carer within their family. Where possible, we want to feature children whose stories have a topical dimension and we have been wondering about whether there is a child or young person out there who has lost a parent or perhaps an older sibling in Afghanistan, or whose relative has been wounded or injured, and is taking on a caring role in their family as a result.


We aim to start filming in early September and for filming to take place over a period of 4 months (not continuous of course), so that we have time to build a relationship with the children and families we feature, and see events in their lives unfold. Therefore I will be spending the coming weeks researching stories and looking for the inspiring children and families we might feature.


If you know of any inspiring children in these circumstances who we might feature, or if you think you could circulate an email about the programme to others who might, I would be really grateful. I can be reached by email here, or on the direct line 0207 258 6823.


Yours sincerely, and with many thanks in advance for your help


Sarah


Sarah Robinson
Assistant Producer
Mentorn Media


Elsinore House 77 Fulham Palace Road London W6 8JA


020 7258 6823 - direct
020 7258 6800 - switchboard
020 7258 6888 - fax
srobinson@mentorn.tv - email
www.mentorn.tv