Host of celebrities join Martin Roberts-led campaign to support children’s mental health

Famous faces lend support to Homes Under the Hammer’s @TVMartinRoberts ‘#Sadsville’ children’s initiative which helps with their happiness and mental wellbeing 

• TV celebrities supporting the campaign include David Hasselhoff, Ant Middleton, Ben Shephard, Kate Garraway, Bruno Tonioli, Kimberly Wyatt, Radzi Chinyanganya, Jeremy Vine, Warwick Davies, Rev Richard Coles, Alexander Armstrong, Paul Martin, Richard Osman, Dion Dublin, Helen Lederer, Esther Rantzen, Anne Diamond, Christopher Biggins and Basil Brush
• Each celebrity has narrated sections of the TV property expert’s children’s storybook Sadsville, and their contributions have been edited together to create an engaging video version of the story which is available for FREE viewing or download
• The Martin Roberts Foundation recently provided all 22,500 primary schools and 4,000 public libraries in the UK with free physical copies of a special ‘Teaching Version’ of Sadsville
• The academically-acclaimed book includes free supporting teaching materials, resources and a lesson plan that helps pupils understand their own emotions, why they may be struggling with unhappiness, and guides them in ways to feel happier and where to find support
• Following distribution of the book, 77% of children thought they would cope better with sadness after hearing Sadsville, with 73% saying they’d also now know how to access support, according to official data
• A free digital read-along version has been created on Auris’s digital reading app Fonetti

TV personality Martin Roberts has been joined in his fight against childhood mental health problems by a host of celebrities including David Hasselhoff, Ant Middleton, Bruno Tonioli & Warwick Davis. They, alongside other famous faces, have lent their support to the Sadsville campaign by being filmed reading sections of the book, which was created to help children better understand how to cope with negative emotions.

The full-length celebrity read-along video of Sadsville will be published online at the Sadsville and Martin Roberts Foundation websites and their social media channels this week.

Celebrity narrator, global popstar Kimberly Wyatt from Pussycat Dolls said: “Martin’s Sadsville initiative is brilliant. Mental health is so important, particularly during a global pandemic, and helping children to understand their emotions and how to find support is something I am very proud to be part of.

“I loved reading Sadsville. It’s a wonderful children’s story and I’m sure it will be a huge help for children and teachers alike and make really a positive impact on children’s mental wellbeing.”

Last month, The Martin Roberts Foundation provided all of Britain’s 22,500 primary schools with two copies of a special ‘teaching version’ of Sadsville, a book written by Martin Roberts, which included resources, teaching materials and a lesson or assembly plan to help improve children’s resilience and mental wellbeing.

In addition, every public library in the UK received a copy, allowing parents to access a physical version of the book alongside online and read-along versions and home study materials.

Since the book’s distribution, research carried out by The Martin Roberts Foundation found that hearing Sadsville had a significant positive impact on children’s mental wellbeing: 

Children

• 92% of children responding enjoyed the book
• 73% of children responding knew how to contact Childline and NSPCC after hearing the book
• 77% of children responding thought they’d better be able to cope with sadness after hearing it

Teachers

• 100% of teachers responding had either used Sadsville & materials as well as lesson plan, or were planning to
• 80% believed that book and materials were useful as part of PSHE / wellbeing curriculum
• 69% believed that it would be beneficial for every year 4 child to have their own copy of the book

Martin Roberts said: “I’m so thankful to the celebrities who have supported the project and blown away by the amazing feedback that the book has already had from teachers and children all over the UK. I wrote and distributed Sadsville to make a real impact, and to help children who might be struggling. I’m delighted that it is doing so, especially during these turbulent times, when it is needed more than ever.”

Best known for his 17 years hosting BBC TV property auction show Homes Under the Hammer, Martin Roberts is also an established children’s book author and originally wrote Sadsville to support the invaluable work carried out by the NSPCC and Childline.

Sadsville helps children to differentiate between types of sadness – ‘good sad’ and ‘bad sad’, according to the book, and directs children towards finding help via the NSPCC’s Childline service. This is a free, private and confidential service where children can talk to trained counsellors about anything that may be worrying them. Children can contact Childline on 0800 111 or www.childline.org.uk.

The book forms part of the campaign to help children’s mental wellbeing that is the mainstay of the authors own charity The Martin Roberts Foundation which aims to give a free copy of the original Sadsville  book to every child in year 4 (8 & 9 year olds) in the UK. So far over 35,000 books have been distributed, with more to come. 

Martin Roberts added: “Sadsville is a magical and whimsical story aimed at children aged 6 to 10, based in a land where everyone is always sad – and the reader has to work out why. The book encourages children to question their own emotions and ‘think outside the box’ as to why they may be struggling with unhappiness. It helps them find ways to feel happier and to reach out for support if they need it.”

The book has received acclaim from children, teachers and senior academics alike, with Headteachers commenting on how the book “encourages important discussion” and suggesting to fellow teachers that they should “without doubt, get involved with this project.”

The book is supported by ground-breaking digital technology from Auris Tech, that will provide all children with access to a free digital read-along version of the book for their tablets on their platform Fonetti.