A film we made for charity My Life, My Choice, has won the £350K – £1 Million category at the 6th Charity Film Awards.
The charity supports people in Oxfordshire with learning disabilities. The film showcased their peer-to-peer training scheme called Travel Buddies. Trainers are employed to support their peers to build up their confidence to travel independently.
The ceremony was attended by two stars of the Travel Buddies film, Luke and Charlene.
Luke and Charlene in their after show interview
Known as the Oscars of the charity world, the awards bring together hundreds of charities to celebrate their cause-based films.
It was Charlene’s first ever trip to London. She said ‘I enjoyed it very much. It was a good night, I was very lucky to get an award.’
The judges said ‘What a lovely film and set of performances. It was an uplifting, positive story about a simple but brilliant campaign.’
Take a look at the winning film…
The ceremony was hosted by comedian Tom Allen and took place at Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square on Tuesday 21 March 2023. It’s one of the most iconic cinemas in the world and has been home to hundreds of premieres since 1937. Celebs in attendance included Jason Watkins and TV presenters AJ and Curtis Pritchard.
The evening included networking, celebrity guests, entertainment, canapés and drinks. Plus the winning films were screened on the most prestigious big screen in the country.
Here are the highlights of the event:
Since the Charity Film Awards was created, more than 2,500 causes have benefitted – gaining exposure, donations and volunteers. The awards are recognised by both BFI and IMDb.
Stars Luke and Charlene and Sophie and Rachael from the charity were presented with their award by Strictly star Arlene Phillips. You can watch the moment (at timecode 2.25) on this live stream of the event:
Only 5.1% of adults with learning disabilities are in paid work (NHS Digital, 2021) and over half of disabled people report feeling lonely (Sense, 2017). My Life My Choice aims to tackle this head on with the Travel Buddy Scheme.
Bounce Video, who produced the film, is founded by former TV producer Grace Gibbons. Grace has previously worked on the BAFTA-winning series Gogglebox, BBC Watchdog and One Born Every Minute.
The company now makes video and social media content for the education, charity and corporate sectors.
Grace said ‘It’s been a privilege to work with such a brilliant charity that empowers people with learning difficulties to take control of their own lives. We’re thrilled to have won our first Charity Film Award.’
Bounce is currently working with My Life, My Choice on an exciting new film to showcase another of their fantastic schemes.
Bounce founder, Grace Gibbons, also supports a diverse group of young people through a work experience partnership with City of Oxford College.