Roll Nine x UK Content Award 2020
Solace x Roll Nine - ‘Best Crisis Response’ for #Lifeline
Roll Nine Productions x UK Content Award Winner 2022 ‘Best Crisis Reponse’ for Solace #Lifeline
UK CONTENT AWARDS 2022
BEST CRISIS RESPONSE:
Judges feedback:
A hard-hitting and empathetic campaign. The recognition on the importance of timing and when messages should land was very effective.
Emotively hopeful, scenarios strong that reflected real stories. The video sequence had a strong arc and overall, more women were helped which is a success.
About the campaign:
Over 2.3 million people, the vast majority of them women, experienced domestic abuse in England and Wales in the year leading up to March 2020. We then went into a crisis like no other, that saw domestic violence skyrocket and the ability for women to reach a point of safety plummet.
Solace saw an unprecedented rise in demand for services. Calls to their free advice line more than doubled.
According to the charity, more women than ever before were calling its helpline on the school run or even from schools, their only time away from home, seeking help to flee.
The main aims were to raise funds to staff the phone line that was seeing a 117% rise in demand, and to help raise awareness and let women know that they were not alone.
‘Answer the Call’ - Showing the moment Rosie finally gets the chance to call for help while on the school run with only her handbag. A scenario that is a daily occurrence with those fleeing domestic abuse in order to not raise suspicion with their abuser.
‘Dragons’ - To show the impact the situation might have on a child the second film was shot from the perspective of Charlie, the little girl who has witnessed everything, but doesn’t quite understand what’s going on.
‘Hope’ - The third film was filmed as a testimonial telling the audience what happened once Rosie and Charlie reached a point of safety, how they were helped to heal and recover from their abuse and move forward.
While the first and last film with Rosie as the main character were scripted, the film with our incredible child actress wasn’t. Her parents and the Solace children’s worker talked to her about fleeing a mean and scary parent and the director came up with the creative idea of giving her some dragons to play with. The resulting unscripted intro to the second film was both heartbreaking and empowering.
The films wouldn’t have been possible without the help of casting director Sue Odell, our awesome director Alfie Dale and Director of Photography Beatriz Delgado Mena. Beth from Solace offered up her flat to film in. Finally, Roisin, the Solace worker who plays herself in the film, helped write the scripts based on her actual conversations with women she was helping flee at the time.
Instagram 3500+ views & 400+ likes and comments such as ‘So hard to listen, yet so important’ and ‘Thank you for all you do ❤️’
Facebook 7500+ reach.
Twitter was the most successful platform with + 83,000 impressions alongside one promoted tweet of the Dragons film that received +114,000 impressions +50,000 media views.
The Solace Advice Line has been able to continue to stay open and it’s a vital part of the Solace service that has helped more than 23,000 survivors and runs 22 refuges across London.
During the pandemic Solace workers like Roisin were on the phone night and day working tirelessly to help women and to quite literally saving lives.
Roisin said:
'I’ve had situations where our refuges were completely full, I’ve had situations where I’ve met up with women who’ve just had knives held to their throats.’
She also told us: ‘I had been working with a woman going through a serious domestic and sexual abuse case. Six months later I walked past a cafe and saw her sitting laughing with her son, something she would never have been able to do.”
This film is a testament to the work Solace and their incredible team does. Winning this award would help continue to raise the profile and hopefully donations for this vital charity and help them to be there for women who need them.
