LONDON - British actor Himesh Patel has joined forces with global charity Save the Children to narrate the charity’s new short film ‘The Elephant in the Room’.
The animation depicts the story of a growing elephant to highlight the challenges facing one in eight UK families during the summer holidays.
The film is part of the charity’s national campaign to raise awareness of summer holiday poverty and to shine a light on resources available for families struggling outside of term-time, with a clear narrative that poverty no longer needs to be the elephant in the room.
Recent polling from the charity found one in eight (14%) families across the country are struggling to afford even basic summer essentials such as sun-cream and sunhats for their children this year, with 88 per cent of parents admitting to feeling financial and emotional pressure during the school holidays. Three in five say it is financially the hardest time of year, beating even Christmas.
Lending his support and voice to the charity campaign, narrator, actor and Save The Children supporter, Himesh Patel, said:
‘‘As a father of two young girls, their health and happiness is the most important thing to me. I wanted to support Save The Children’s summer holiday campaign to help draw attention to the number of children that will be going without food or activities this summer.
‘‘By voicing The Elephant in the Room, I hope it helps quash any stigma felt by families that find themselves struggling this summer and shows that there are resources available to help bridge the summer holiday gap."
Alongside the animation which features a child worrying about having ‘no stories to tell or clothes to wear’ when he goes back to school after the school holidays, the charity has also produced a guide on ‘How to talk to your child about money and not having enough.’
Dan Paskins, Save the Children's Executive Director for UK Impact, said: "Whilst 71% of parents said their children associate the school holidays with excitement and 66% with joy, only 16% said they can provide their child with a similar summer experience to the one they had when they were young.
"This film aims to reflect the experiences of thousands of families across the UK faced with summer holiday poverty right now. Four million children are growing up in poverty this summer, we want them to know they are not alone and that poverty no longer needs to be the elephant in the room."
Save the Children has been working directly with families and communities across the UK, making sure children don't miss out on childhood because of poverty. Through our grants programme, we've delivered more than 10,500 grants reaching over 21,000 children, working alongside more than 120 trusted local partner organisations in 30 communities across the UK.
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Save the Children’s new web resource for families with details of help and support can be found here: School Holiday Support for Families | Save the Children UK
For more information on free days out: Things to do with Kids for Free | Save the Children UK
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For more information contact [email protected]