Family Project, helping families in crisis manage Covid lockdowns

6 Oct

New South Wales, Australian families were locked down for 107 days in 2021.

Anxiety, stress and pressure caused some families to go into crisis.

The Family Project is a media channel designed to help support the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of Australian, NSW, families through targeted and topical daily adaptable themes, activities, and advice delivered online during times of crisis.

The interactive website highlights ideas for attainable projects that can be undertaken as a family by anyone with ease. These projects were shared via videos and visual aids, and complemented by a downloadable activity sheet. The website also provides information from specialists to support children’s mental health.

Awaken acted as the creative agency developing the TVC and first daily activity content for the program.

Funded and supported by NSW Government, the Family Project is a community media collaboration between two leading mental health and wellbeing Charities and Channel 9. NSW Minister for Mental Health, NSW Minister for Health, Advocate for Children & Youth as well as the Regional Youth Taskforce Chair provided endorsement over the launch to underline the credibility of this platform and the importance of its message. Nine Entertainment Co through its Nine Cares program drove promotion of FP through primetime TV, print and online mediums to encourage users to visit the platform for live content, daily schedule ideas and further resources.
A TVC was developed for the launch of the project, showing families engaging with one another in some of the projects that were being shared by the platform. This was an emotive and poignant video, designed to pull at the heartstrings. It was was compiled by a series of scenes, including; two children talking through a fence with ‘telephone cups’, enjoying a popcorn fight with an at home movie night, celebrating a first birthday via zoom with the cake they made over zoom with grandparents, enjoying the outdoors with trees and paper aeroplanes, and two neighbours talking over the fence with the use of their respective trampolines, amongst others.
Two different versions were developed. One to be shown during the heart of the lockdown, and the second to be used as lockdowns were ending.
In the initial creative the creative started with a girl humming the song ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ to herself and walking alone. This opening scene represents the solitude, uncertainty and hopeless feeling that so many children were, and still are feeling right now. As she breaks into song, the images of togetherness and making magical moments show up – with a young child VO (talking to the adults) with the message that we can look for silver linings and find joy in the connections together and small moments. As the song crescendos to ‘if bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why can’t I’, the scenes become happier and instill the feeling of hope - the family project is here to support the emotional health and wellbeing with inspiring ideas that we can do together, so we can come out ‘over the rainbow’.
The tagline summarises what the project aims to achieve: ‘We’re together (making connections and enjoying moments of togetherness), even when we’re not together (apart from family, friends and normality as we’ve known it).’
The second video uses a more upbeat song and more jovial scenes – including more outdoors scenes and ends with a child beaming with happiness into the lens.