Words by Smiley Team
When the world began to experience the breakout of Covid-19, the worst health crisis in a century, the Smiley Movement team felt more determined than ever to continue spreading positivity, good news and uplifting different communities within our reach.
Remembering the first SmileyTalk of 2020 on the 5th February is like looking back into another world. The team geared up at our north London community venue, enthusiastically setting up the stage, seating arrangements, refreshments and name badges for our guest speakers and audience yet to arrive. We teamed up with partners from Friends of the Earth, The Climate Coalition, Extinction Rebellion, Plastic Oceans UK and others to tackle the most alarming issue of our time - the climate emergency. Over one hundred people turned up to listen to the inspiring key notes and panel discussion about the importance of reaching zero emissions before it is too late. The evening was positively charged, fantastic for networking, and flowing with optimism and determination to beat climate change.
Things started to feel a little different at our second live event on the 4th March 2020 - just weeks before the full UK lockdown began. The team headed up to Cambridge to meet our education event partners to host an event aimed at raising awareness of the system change needed in the UK education sector, to discuss the importance of providing a 'whole education', how to ensure every child is included in effective teaching, and what such effective teaching looks like. While the event successfully established an exciting collaboration, new ground for inspiration to grow and flourish among partners and guests, it would be Smiley Movement's final in-person event of 2020.
As many of the societal issues we aimed to tackle with our news and events worsened during the pandemic, we felt there was a greater need to continue spreading positive news in the world and for the public to feel a sense of hope and empowerment to continue giving back and supporting each other during the lockdown. We continued publishing daily SmileyNews stories about the people working tirelessly at hundreds of charities and everyday heroes making a difference in the world, and at the peak of the lockdown our readership reached 121,000 people.
In September 2020, we started live streaming our SmileyTalks online and thanks to the invaluable contribution of our incredible partners from across the charity and nonprofit sectors joining our virtual panel discussions, by December 2020 our viewership soared to a combined quarter of a million people across different channels. In the final three months of the year, we put on an event addressing LGBTQ+ rights and equality, homelessness, mental wellbeing and climate change. We continued to champion the power of quality education to create a happier, more equal and sustainable world for both the planet and its people.
It is with great pleasure that we share Smiley Movement's end of 2020 recap video, that can now be watched here on the Smiley News website.
