London’s MetFilm School staff and student create moving short film to help raise money for The Crown actress Olivia Coleman’s charity, Tender.

The team is hoping to raise £1,000 to support abuse-prevention workshops for up to 150 children and young people.

The film, ‘Fabulous Pheobe’ has been widely applauded and recognised.

Coronavirus restrictions have exacerbated the prevalence of domestic abuse and, according to recent reports: ‘Calls to the UK’s largest domestic abuse helpline are rising “week on week” as new figures reveal that almost 50 suspected killings may have occurred during the first lockdown.’

Olivia Colman, Tender’s Patron, says:

“I believe the work Tender is doing with young people, educating them about healthy and unhealthy relationships, is important, inspiring and imperative. Domestic violence prevention education can make a real difference, enabling young people to avoid abusive relationships in later life.”

Jonny Persey, Director of MetFilm School said:

“This is a great initiative and I hope as many people as possible will support the campaign. Film is such a powerful tool, it not just for entertainment … and this film demonstrates beautifully and poetically how it can help us understand and feel what life might be like in another’s shoes, it can provoke us to respond to injustices; and it can inspire us to see the world through a lens we may not have considered. And I’m enormously proud of Dani, Cassius and Alex.”

Experiencing domestic abuse has devastating effects on young people, sometimes lasting a lifetime. Young people are a particularly vulnerable age group to abusive relationships, both amongst each other and within family settings.

Working across schools, youth settings and further education, Tender is one of the few UK organisations focused solely on preventing relationship abuse amongst young people.