A group of young people supported by the Moira Anderson Foundation have created a unique animation to highlight the impact of the charity’s work.
Members of its youth steering group, known as the MAF Champions, have spent the year working with experts on the two-minute film entitled The Woods.
It was inspired by a poem written by one of the group members and aims to raise awareness of the support which the Airdrie-based charity provides for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
The Foundation Champions are “passionate about raising awareness of the support [it] delivers” and decided on on an animated film as the best way to communicate its support for young people.
It reflects their “experiences of life before and after getting support from the Moira Anderson Foundation,” following on from the poem written by group member Niamh, who became the creative lead for the project.
She said: “The Woods represents the sometimes daunting process of seeking help and how it can all feel a bit too much when you can’t tell the woods from the trees.
“Once you take that first step a path starts to emerge; it’s not all sunshine and rainbows [and] we can still remain in the woods but with the bit of support, it can take the weight off.”
Known as the Blue Sky animation project, it saw the team take part in guided meditations and other creative exercises to develop storylines, as well as workshops on animation, character development, storyboarding, post-production and composing soundscapes.
Members were supported by experts from the Glasgow Initiative of Facilitation and Therapy, Growth Animation, Dr Javita Narang and art director Sharon Caddie, while the project was supported by a £25,000 award from the Paristamen Charity to support the awareness campaign.
Foundation director Gillian Urquhart told Lanarkshire Live: “The project has been a new venture for us; it’s been an exciting journey and wonderful to see the progress the project team has made along the way.
“The animation itself is simple yet powerful and really helps to get the message out there that MAF is here to support survivors – we’re sure it will make a big impact on those who need to hear that message.”
She added: “The young people involved were fantastic, they quickly realised how important the project was and gave it their all, and were supported by a project team of animators, artists and therapists.”
The Foundation is now working towards offering a youth therapeutic group and aims to begin the pilot phase within the next few weeks.
Gillian said: “We continue to offer one-to-one support and therapeutic services to children and young people, nad support to parents who are struggling to cope with what’s happened to their child.”
The Champions’ animation can be viewed on the Moira Anderson Foundation website.
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