In our latest of our ongoing relationship with British Airways and Comic Relief, this time we took our cameras to a baby club in the outskirts of Cape Town. All storyboards went out the window when faced with toddlers on the loose; that energy was manifest in the film!

One great way to maximise your investment in a project is to use a single shoot for multiple final films. This is what we’ve done for all our shoots with British Airways, including this film which gives us a look at a project visit to mothers2mothers, an organisation dedicating to training and supporting mothers to help end paediatric AIDS. Off the back of the in-flight film from South Africa, this social media film allowed us to tell an even bigger story through to eyes of Nobuntu, an incredibly inspirational mother who has seen first hand the effects that the Flying Start fundraising has had.

The delivery of a project isn’t the end of the road for your footage. To celebrate hitting £20 million in donations with their Flying Start campaign, British Airways commissioned us to make a compilation film using footage from all of the projects we’ve done with them so far. Reusing footage reminds your audience of the incredible work you’ve done, while also maximising your return on investment for each project. We can also incorporate your own footage into reedits too!

As part of our long-standing relationship with British Airways’ Community Investment team, Cloud9Media spent time in Durban, South Africa with Tom Hewitt and his crew of ex-street kids now-surfing professionals know as Surfers Not Street Children. Apart from their partnership with Comic Relief, British Airways offer annual bursaries to individual projects around the world that they feel are providing long-term sustainable development to the community. Durban has a long history of homelessness and street crime, so a surfing project that can engage young street-children and give them some life-changing guidance can making a huge impact. Once we actually managed to get all the kids in the same place at the same time (“it’s like herding cats” said Tom in despair) hanging out with these bright enthusiastic young guys was the highlight – you could feel the energy coming from them, all buzzing from the experience of surfing and being filmed. One requested a coffee with seven sugars which probably contributed to the general energy level.

They say never to work with children or animals. With baby elephants being over-friendly (and boy do they push!) filming at the Daphne Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was no exception. Thankfully British Airways use their network of people, planes and goodwill to bring help to orphaned elephants in Kenya. It’s reassuring that large corporations can use their core skills to help more than just passengers.

An experience never to be forgotten.

Travelling for 2 days over miles of bumpy road to the most remote part of Northern Kenya, Turkana was well worth it just to witness the power of corporate charity partnership. With the help of British Airways flying out water pump parts, the One Brand have been providing clean drinking water to isolated communities affected by drought and war, giving them the chance to live fulfilling and happy lives.

Our relationship with the One Brand has continued to this day.