This week saw the launch of Good Morning Britain’s ‘1 Million Minutes’ campaign, celebrating five years of award-winning success for the social purpose initiative seeking to end loneliness.
“It’s the same for every family up and down the country, it’s been such a strange year… I really wanted to try and reflect a little bit of what everyone has been through in the whole year. Everyone has been affected this year in loads of different ways.
“I sent out a tweet when I was looking to put some of the moments into the film, asking about some of the moments that they had missed out on this year. Some of the replies were absolutely heartbreaking – people have died and they have not been able to be there, people missing their grandchildren and people having chemo and not being able to support friends and family. From my point of view, it was about trying to put all of that into it. ” – Jake Wood
Amid lockdown and isolation, 2020 has been a year of missed moments with family, friends and colleagues, and as Covid continues the campaign is asking you to pledge your time to stop loneliness becoming the next pandemic.
By 8am on Tuesday (Dec 1), viewers had already pledged a staggering 9 million minutes, with the numbers constantly rising.
To launch the campaign, GMB has teamed up with EastEnders’ actor Jake Wood for his emotional directorial debut. Jake has directed a brand new video to accompany an exclusively commissioned poem about missed moments and the loneliness of 2020, written by British poet Hussain Manwar. Music for the video was provided by Naughty Boy.
The video depicts loneliness across Britain, from an elderly woman at home alone, to a young girl sat in a deserted playground, while also shining a light on the tireless work of our frontline workers.
“I think the latest figures are nine million lonely people in the UK, which is a huge staggering number. Again, this is one of the main reasons that I was so excited to get involved with this campaign.
“This year more than ever there are so many people in need, who are lonely and need support. This campaign you can just get involved, you can donate anything from an hour, as much or as little as you want to do…pick up the phone and get involved.” – Jake Wood
Also on the show, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid discussed a hard-hitting GMB advertising campaign that launched in the paper’s today. The advert was designed to highlight the epidemic of loneliness facing the UK. The advert shows Piers and Susanna on a television screen as a lonely viewer is reflected in the glass, with the tagline ‘We shouldn’t be your only company’.
Throughout December on GMB a host of famous faces will share their own experiences alongside viewer stories of heart-breaking isolation and the heroes who made people’s lives less lonely.
To pledge your support to Good Morning Britain’s 1 Million Minutes Awards go to: ITV.com/1MillionMinutes
