18 December 2010 | 4pm PST | Midnight GMT
Beatbullying is chosen as the only UK health charity partner in a global campaign to raise awareness of mental health and bullying
Beatbullying is today participating in the 4th annual Project for Awesome, a 24 hour ‘takeover’ of YouTube by charities and cause-related organisations.
Beatbullying is the only health related UK charity invited to take part in the event, ‘health’ being one of four issues that the project will focus on together with ‘education’, ‘poverty’ and ‘making wishes come true’. This year, Project for Awesome, which was the number one trending topic on Twitter for a time in December last year, will be focusing on bullying as an important social issue affecting YouTube users. For the first time ever it will also comprise of a live event taking place in Los Angeles and streamed live globally via www.youtube.com/project4awesome
Taking place over a 24 hour period starting on Saturday 18th December at 4pm PST, Project for Awesome is a global event in which YouTube celebrities such as Michelle Phan, Smosh and Annoying Orange, who have each amassed millions of fans globally, world leaders and NGOs collaborate to call attention to the world’s most pressing issues.
As part of the partnership for Project for Awesome, Beatbullying has produced three videos which visually explain challenges within youth mental health and bullying and how Beatbullying is tackling these social issues through its campaigning. Beatbullying will be encouraging viewers to contact their leaders via Twitter to ask them what action they are talking to prevent bullying in their country - including President Obama and UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Personal success stories will also be showcased from the children and young people that Beatbullying has directly helped via its CyberMentors online support service. Members of the public are invited to donate money to the charity to fund schemes such as CyberMentors.
Leading YouTube partners Michael Buckley, Britney Louise Taylor and Michelle Phan, have all chosen to support Beatbullying by providing their own anti-bullying content for the project.
Beatbullying’s selection as one of eight charities highlighted in Project for Awesome consolidates the charity’s reputation as leaders in digital innovation. In addition to the extensive work carried out in schools, the charity runs the award winning, peer mentoring social networking site CyberMentors which was launched nearly two years ago. As recently as last month, the children and young people’s charity went on to launch the world’s first ever online protest, The Big March, which campaigned for Government to legislate against bullying, harnessing support from over three quarters of million people. Videos on Beatbullying’s YouTube channel come from contributors as diverse as Gordon Brown, Cheryl Cole, Beth Ditto and Leona Lewis. Over two million people world-wide have viewed videos on Beatbullying’s YouTube channel positioning the charity alongside some of the most active NGO’s.
Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive of Beatbullying, commented:
“For Beatbullying to be invited to take part in a project with such a massive global scale highlights just how much of an insidious and widespread problem bullying has become.
“We’re very excited to have been given the opportunity to take part in Project for Awesome – an amazing campaign, which allows Beatbullying to raise awareness of bullying globally but also provides a platform to promote activism and encourage YouTube users to talk about the positive steps they can take to tackle bullying and anti-social behavior where they are.
“Digital campaigning is absolutely central to the work Beatbullying does, particularly given the rise in cyber bullying and the prominence of social networking sites, which have made children and young people even more vulnerable to bullying both in and out of school.
“Collectively, through harnessing the power of the millions of YouTube users worldwide, we hope to send a clear message to world leaders including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and President Obama: bullying is absolutely unacceptable, and collectively we won’t stand for it anymore.
“Action must be taken to protect vulnerable children – a donation of as little as £2.79 can pay for us to respond to one child no matter where they are from who is being bullied and let them know they are not alone and help is available. We would urge everyone to stand with Beatbullying on Saturday 18th December and help spread the word that bullying must be tackled as a matter of urgency.”
To view the films, which will be shown at 12am midnight on Saturday 18th December, please click here www.youtube.com/project4awesome
To find out more about Beatbullying, please go to www.beatbullying.org or www.cybermentors.org.uk
Any young person experiencing bullying or who just needs someone to talk to is urged to visit www.cybermentors.org.uk.
For more information, interviews with a Beatbullying spokesperson or further statistics please contact:
Beatbullying - Sherry Adhami | sherry.adhami@beatbullying.org | 0781 400 4963
Frank PR – Mira Ryness or Lizzie Earl | beatbullying@frankpr.it | 0207 693 6999
-ENDS-
NOTES TO EDITORS
Beatbullying is the UK's leading bullying prevention charity, creating a world where bullying, violence and harassment are unacceptable.
Beatbullying empowers people to understand, recognise, and say no to bullying, violence and harassment by giving them the tools to transform their lives and the lives of their peers. Working with families, schools, and communities to understand the problem, campaign for change and provide a sustainable efficient and proven solution.
CyberMentors.org.uk is a safe, social networking site providing information and support for young people being bullied or cyber bullied. Young people, aged 11-25, are trained as CyberMentors, in schools and online, so that they can offer support to their peers. Encapsulated by cutting-edge technology, it is a safe website where young people can turn to other young people for help and advice. CyberMentors are also supported by trained counsellors, available online if needed. CyberMentors is a Beatbullying project.
Beatbullying has gained significant recognition for its anti-bullying work in schools and communities across the UK, working with more than 1.6 million children and young people since its launch in 1999. For more information go to www.beatbulyling.org and www.cybermentors.org