Red carpet day as school enjoys animation viewing

Kingsnorth Church of England Primary School hosted a very special evening for local charity Teddington Trust.

The school has a very long standing relationship with the charity and so jumped at the chance to be involved in their latest project, the Little Ted & Friends animation.

This nine-minute animation aims to provide a highly valuable resource for children living with the rare genetic condition of xeroderma pigmentosum.

It will also form part of the national Little Ted goes to school.../#BearsforRare initiative currently rolling out across Ashford schools.

The project, funded by the Golden Jubilee Trust, was animated by local illustrator Michael Howdon and Ramsgate based animators Pixel Circus.

The script was written by Teddington Trust co-founders Nicola Miller and Rebecca Stewart and with the help of Right Track Music and their Ashford recording studios the chosen children of Year 6 spent a morning earlier this year in the studio laying down the voices for the short film.

In partnership with the school, Teddington Trust ran auditions across Year 5 and 6, and Jason Nancy James, Enoobong Umoh and Megan Todd at the premiere Foster, Nancy James, Megan Todd and Enoobong Umoh were picked to take part.

Nicola Miller of the Teddington Trust said: “The children did an incredible job and were so professional on the day, coping with lots of difficult medical words, while injecting their own characters and sense of fun.

“As a thank you we wanted to treat the children to the first private viewing of the finished work with the full red carpet treatment, so they could share the proud moment with their parents.”

The screening saw the school transformed into a red carpet event for the children, their parents, project funders, teachers, governors and all involved in the film’s creation, to get together and celebrate the finished work.

Head teacher Iain Witts said: “It was a truly special occasion and a true team effort.”

Teddington Trust was founded by sisters Nicola Miller and Rebecca Stewart when Nicola’s son, Eddison, was diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) in 2012. Patients with this condition must be protected from all daylight and artificial sources of ultra-violet light as this DNA repair disorder renders them a staggering 10,000 times more susceptible to aggressive skin cancers than the general population, and prone to complex neurological complications.

For more about the work of Teddington Trust and to view the completed animation visit www.teddingtontrust.com