“We’re delighted that their film is continuing to help us raise awareness through the Charity Film Awards” – Salford charity film nominated for awards

Salford Charity Emmaus have expressed their delight after a film about the charity has been nominated for a national award.

The short film, that was made over lockdown, has been nominated for the Charity Film Awards.

The charity film was created by photography duo Isy and Leigh Anderson, and it focuses on the charity’s work in the Salford area.

Emmaus work with people in Salford that have experienced homelessness and provide a place for these people to stay to allow them to get back on their feet.

Please vote for Emmaus Salford in the #CharityFilmAwards. Our super film created by @isyandleigh is in the running but needs your support.

Vote now ➡️ https://t.co/sUbS6s6qkc https://t.co/YzMCHjVvvm

— Emmaus Salford (@Emmaus_Salford) December 2, 2021

Rachel Richardson, Community Director at Emmaus Salford, was pleased the charity’s and filmmakers effort with producing the short film have been noticed.

She said: “It was amazing working with Isy and Leigh to showcase our team and charity.

“The pair created a brilliant snapshot of people at Emmaus Salford and we’re delighted that their film is continuing to help us raise awareness through the Charity Film Awards.”

Isy and Leigh Anderson work together as Photography by Anderson, the pair collaborate with some of the UK’s most creative agencies and regularly shoot for big brands and well-known organisations.

The duo from North Manchester got involved with the charity after meeting Emmaus Regional Communications Officer Andrew Fowler through a networking event.

During lockdown, Isy and Leigh had plenty of spare time and decided to use the time by helping Emmaus make this short film.

They said: “It’s really nice that it’s in the awards. It’s nice for us but it’s nicer for Emmaus because that’s why we did it, to shine more of a light on them and it’s great they’ve got a film out there that people can see.

“It feels like mission accomplished from our point of view really, to give them something they can use to get their message out there, and obviously it’s been good enough to get nominated for these awards so that’s great.”

The short film wasn’t just beneficial for Isy and Leigh for the experience of producing the video but was also beneficial to them in finding out about homelessness and opening their eyes to the issues people involved face.

They said: “It was about the time of the first lockdown. All of our work had stopped and put on hold so we had a period of uncertain times financially ourselves.

“We were thinking; Whens everything going to come back? So it did make us think. We started to think about how we were going to pay the bills as we didn’t know how long it was going to last. So it started to become something we were thinking about.

“So it made sense for us to use the spare time we had as we weren’t working to help these guys by shooting a film.

“It was good for us as we were doing something productive by helping them. When we got there and met the people who living and working there it made sense, it was a really easy fit for us at the time to do it.”

One of the short films we made for @EmmausUK has been shortlisted in this year’s Charity Film Awards.
If you get a moment please follow the link to vote 👇 https://t.co/a7zkqSCDPM
Thanks! Isy+Leigh x@emmaus_salford #charityfilm #charitycampaign #lumixuk @LumixUK pic.twitter.com/7oqpeVQJ7w

— photographybyanderson (@isyandleigh) December 3, 2021

Isy and Leigh worked with people at the charity to shoot the film, which challenged the duo as it was a sensitive and emotional subject.

In the end, the final project was worth it for both the duo and Emmaus, as the short film is now up for the Charity Film Awards.

Launched five years ago, the Charity Film Awards is the world’s biggest campaign to promote cause-based films.

Since its creation, over 2,000 causes have benefitted from the awards, gaining exposure in the process.

The awards are now run by Smiley Movement, which celebrates films created by the third sector to change mindsets, raise awareness or fundraise.

Nicolas Loufrani, Smiley Movement’s CEO, says: “Our aim is to help the public engage with the charity sector and understand better what these great charities do every day to solve the specific issues they have identified. This campaign is the best way for them to creatively express themselves but also to show a very wide range of causes worthy of our support.”

Anyone wanting to vote for Emmaus’ short film in the National Charity Awards can do so here.