We welcomed two guests to lunch today: Andrew Vince, a guest of Philip Smith, and our speaker Nik Read from Big Picture Charity Films.
Big Picture Charity Films was set up in 2008 to make professional-quality films for charities and is the only charity in the UK to do this type of work. Nik worked in TV and film from the age of 18 but when he turned 40 he felt he needed to give something back.
He had been working in Romania just after after films emerged showing how badly the children were treated in the state-run orphanages. The government responded by closing the orphanages and turning the children out onto the streets. Nik made a short film for a charity which was working with the street children which made a huge difference to them.
Nik fund-raises by organising quiz nights in Colchester, bike rides and the Three Peaks Challenge so that charities pay only a fraction of the cost of making the film.
He showed us two short films to illustrate what he does.
“Millie’s Story” was made for the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust and featured Millie’s parents talking movingly about the day their one-day old daughter stopped breathing. Luckily the air ambulance was deployed and Millie is now a healthy toddler. Nik explained that he has a trained counsellor sitting with people as they retell their experiences.
The second film was for the Robin Cancer Trust and was aimed at detection and prevention of testicular cancer in 18-35 year olds.
Nik looks for smaller charities which don’t have media departments and is currently working with the Essex Police Choir, the Diocese of Chelmsford, Action for Children and the Tom Bowdidge Youth Cancer Foundation.