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11 From 11 – Kids Cracking COVID-19

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11 From 11 – Kids Cracking COVID-19

By Evie Roodhouse, aged 11. Year sixer, proud Aliver and top comms pro in the making…

It’s been eleven long weeks.

Eleven weeks of missing my friends, every day being the same and my resilience being pushed to the limit. I’m still trying to study. But with a three-year-old sister who needs attention every five seconds, a younger brother who is highly spirited with different priorities to me and my parents busy, this hasn’t proved easy. It is a very difficult time for everyone, especially parents.

Children are… well let’s just say they need a lot of attention. Most parents were able to give that attention while they got their kids ready for school, then hurried them out of the door. That allowed Mums and Dads six hours of heavenly peace. Now, many schools remain closed or can only take a handful of kids, so that heavenly peace has gone out of the window.

I found out yesterday that I won’t be going back to school. Since I’m in year six, it means the end of my primary school journey. No leavers disco. No treat day. No proper goodbye. This makes me feel even worse about the situation.

We’re all struggling right now; to keep ourselves happy, to keep our children occupied, and to stay positive. Even from my point of view, I know that children aren’t always the easiest people to deal with.

It’s been a long time. People are getting desperate. We’ve gone for walks, we’ve FaceTimed friends, we’ve built dens, we’ve squared our eyes sitting in front of screens 24/7- now we need to get a bit more creative.

So, as I’ve just turned eleven, here are eleven things you can encourage your children to do to keep them- and you- occupied and happy:

  1. Help them achieve a goal.Something they’ve always aspired to do- or even something they never knew was a thing! Like learning a new language, cooking a tasty meal or developing a new skill.
  2. Arrange a Zoom call with multiple friends. The more the merrier!
  3. Help them do something nice for someone else. For example, writing a kind text message, email, or better yet, a letter explaining why you think they are great.
  4. Try new foods and drinks. A month or two into Lockdown, I discovered that actually, I did like cheesy chilli nachos! Who knew? And curry isn’t as bad as I thought!
  5. Have a spend up! If they have some pocket money, you can help them spend it on something nice- maybe an activity book or game that they will enjoy.
  6. Show gratitude. Everyday write something that they are grateful for. That could be a friend, a relative, or even chocolate- I love chocolate!
  7. Have a clear out! Now, I know for a fact this will appeal more to the parents than the children. But with the current situation, a nice spring clean and clear-out of bedrooms would be something to do.
  8. Explore your drawers. Look through drawers and cupboards and find toys or activities they haven’t used in a while.
  9. Dress up like Joe. Have a good sort-out of clothes- maybe buy some new outfits; beautiful, flowy dresses or suits and ties. Have a ball! Or a fashion show!
  10. Birthday reminders. Text friends and get their birthdays in your calendar. That way, you’ll never forget to wish someone a great lockdown birthday!
  11. Give them a treat. And finally, a treat every once in a while, is guaranteed to keep your children happy. My stepdad is the best milkshake-maker in the world, and sometimes we’ll get chucked a chocolate bar in the evening while we watch TV. We’re talking sugar. You can’t go wrong!

These are some of the activities that I have thought of to keep up my spirits and keep that smile on my face. I hope they have helped you like they have helped me.

Stay alert- control the virus- save lives

 

By Evie Roodhouse, aged 11

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Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

“Thanks for all your help. We are delighted with the campaign, both in terms of the creativity and messaging but also the thought taken over the rollout of the materials. All looks absolutely fabulous!”

Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

“Alive helped us create a video of our response to the floods of winter 2019. Our Chief Officer received messages from all round the country praising us for it and was really pleased with both the video and the response to it.”

Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“We had the privilege to work with the Alive team. It was our first time to be involved in creating an animation for our patients within paediatrics. The team were approachable, friendly, creative and very accommodating. Your vision for what you want to create, is at all times acknowledged, appreciated and accommodated by the team. They worked effectively and with great passion towards our project and worked not only alongside health professionals but also our patients who really enjoyed the experience of working with the Alive team. It has given our team the confidence and inspiration to do further projects in the future. We highly recommend Alive and their exceptional team.”

DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

“‘The short animation developed in co-production with clinicians and young people is outstanding! Informative, developmentally appropriate, vitally fun and engaging. We are really grateful for the expertise of the Alive with Ideas team for their innovative approach in building children’s health literacy.'”

Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

“Our mission was to update our brand visuals to better reflect our innovative and forward-thinking organisation. After receiving numerous pitches from different branding agencies, Alive stood out with their clear passion and understanding of our identity and goals. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Alive Team to create an engaging new brand that we are immensely proud of.”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

“Alive wowed us during the pitch process and they didn’t stop wowing us throughout the whole project. Every person we worked with at Alive were so friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what they do. They have worked with us to really understand what we do and have created a new brand and website that really stands out from our competitors. Thank you!”

Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

“We have worked with Alan, Caroline and the wider Alive With Ideas team for many years. In that time, they have provided a dedicated service that is second to none. We appreciate their attention to detail and creative approach to bringing our brand, communications and stories to life. And would recommend them to anyone looking for creative communications support.”

Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

“The (Alive) team were able to creatively pull together and document (in just over 2minutes) everything our service has achieved over the last few months, from thousands of prescriptions deliveries to hundreds of phone calls made to the vulnerable. The final product was so powerful and reflective of what our service has and continues to achieve. It couldn’t have been better received within the service – thanks Alive for once again helping us to communicate our vision!’”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
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