The Tom Channon safety campaign: Stay Aware, Stay Safe, Stay Together

In June 2022, the Stay Aware, Stay Safe, Stay Together campaign launched in schools and colleges across Wales. The bilingual education pack at the centre of the campaign was put together with the Channon family, and we were honoured to produce the animated video that anchors it.

The campaign was created in memory of Tom Channon, an 18-year-old from Cardiff who died after falling from a wall in Magaluf during his first independent trip abroad in 2018. The campaign packs are now being used in well-being and pastoral sessions to help young people think through how to keep each other safe on their first holidays away.

Tom's mum, Ceri Channon, spoke about why the family agreed to the campaign:

"We all want our youngsters to go away, have fun and come home. We wanted that with Tom and the worst possible thing happened to us. For us, this is Tom's legacy. Tom would have achieved great things and this is his achievement now, that he'll hopefully make more and more people aware that when they go away, there are dangers."

You can read the full BBC News piece on the campaign.

The campaign as a whole is built from a series of video pieces, including interviews with Tom's parents and some of his closest friends. Our animated video sits alongside them and walks through common holiday scenarios that students might encounter, with practical advice on how to look after each other.

When the campaign was being scoped, the family and the campaign team made it clear that the animation needed to feel personal, not slick. Hand-drawn characters, traditional methods, an unhurried pace. Anything too polished would have sat at odds with the subject. The team here understood that immediately, and the final piece reflects it.

St David's Catholic College in Cardiff, where Tom studied for his A-levels, ran the first of the holiday safety sessions ahead of the formal launch. Students gave feedback that has shaped how the pack will be used in other schools.

We were proud to be involved, and proud to attend the launch at St David's on 15 June 2022.

If you're working on a campaign that needs the same kind of care, get in touch. Or if the work starts further upstream and you need to think through positioning and brand first, the Brand Strategy Workshop is where to start.