The Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation was established in 1997 to provide help for the families of developmentally delayed babies who require intensive nursing care. For children under four years, these services are currently unavailable under the State’s children’s care programme. The organisation receives no grant aid or support from the government or National Health Board. Its founders approached Animo looking for an effective communication tool which could be used to support their fundraising efforts.
It was decided that video was the right medium for audiences identified by the organisation. During the research phase of Animo’s work with the Foundation, our researchers were shown a letter written to the Foundation by a parent whose child had been diagnosed with West Syndrome, and who had received help from the Jack & Jill Foundation. The letter outlined the family’s case history and explained how the Foundation had helped in their situation.
Animo asked for the family’s permission to use the text of the letter as a voiceover script for the video presentation because it managed to communicate the necessary messages more powerfully than a formal script ever could. The letter was read by Marian Finucane – a well-known Irish radio presenter – and was accompanied by simple images of childhood using colour, and the absence of colour, to express the difficulties faced by families without nursing assistance.
Our work with the Jack & Jill foundation represents just a small portion of the work Animo does for various advocacy groups, and we are proud to support organisations such as this.
