The Princess of Wales has given a landmark speech to launch her “life’s work”, a project called Shaping Up that highlights the importance of early years development of children. The long-term public awareness drive is thought to be the first of its kind to be launched by a member of the Royal family.
The Princess intends to make the early years “one the most strategically important topics of our time”.
She unveiled the campaign at Bafta’s London HQ. She said in her speech: “The campaign is fundamentally about shining a spotlight on the critical importance of early childhood and how it shapes the adults we become. During this time we lay the foundations and building blocks for life."
"And it is when we learn to understand ourselves, understand others and understand the world in which we live. “This is why it is essential to not only understand the unique importance of our earliest years, but to know what we can all do to help raise future generations of happy, healthy adults.”
The long-term project is said to be Kate’s “life’s work” and it's called Shaping Us - designed to influence attitudes about the unique importance of the first five years of a child’s life and the impact they have on adulthood.
The campaign is considered to be just the first step of a “cultural transformation” that will take time. It is designed to start conversations, invite curiosity and start to slowly build awareness, reports The Telegraph.
A 90-second animation, charting the development of a young girl from birth until her fifth birthday, was commissioned to illustrate how the brain is stimulated by social interactions, support and affection. The “claymation”, made by London-based Blinkink, will be shown before films at cinemas from Friday, while a billboard campaign will reinforce the message up and down the country. Here's the animation...