Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity

The approach

We told this story through one family and their relationship with their Roald Dahl Nurse. We wanted to capture the challenges they face, and the tangible difference the support from their nurse makes to their lives. 

Ada was a fun-loving two year old who lived with her parents, Helen and Gary and her younger brother, Reggie. Until she was 10 months old Ada was meeting all of her developmental goals. Then she caught a virus which is believed to have triggered a rare genetic condition known as Aicardi-Goutières which causes developmental regression as well as complex neurological movement disorder Dystonia. From then on, Ada and her parents were continually in and out of multiple hospitals to manage Ada’s complex needs.

In order to fully capture the huge range of support that Ada’s Specialist Nurse, Lucy, provided to the family, we filmed them together in her home, and in the hospital where she was treated.

We wanted to show the strong bond between Lucy and Ada’s family, so we captured scenes and photography of her helping Helen and Gary navigate the medical world as well as providing practical and emotional support for both Ada and the wider family.  

We interviewed Lucy and her parents about their experiences and captured B-roll footage in the beautiful, sensory garden that Gary created for Ada to experience, and as an emotional outlet for himself.

Many years of filming contributors dealing with the hardest challenges that life can deliver has allowed us to develop gentle techniques for interviewing contributors with sensitivity, so that they can to share their stories, without it being a gruelling experience.

Ada was having a particularly good week during our film shoot. This allowed us to capture her while she was comfortable at home.

Sadly a few months after filming she passed away.