Project background

We worked with the University of the West of England’s RESPECT Project and Avon and Somerset Police to create this poignant animation, which will be used as part of UWE’s Professional Policing course from September 2025 and Avon and Somerset Police’s new constable training.

The animation aims to shed light on the experiences of primary school-age children and their relationships with, and views of, the police. The film touches on the broken relationship between young people and the constabulary, as well as addressing the issue of institutionalised racism within the police force.

Creating the animation

Writing the script

During the scripting process, our lead scriptwriter, Dann, used anonymised real-life case studies provided by the RESPECT Project (whose researchers gathered information from over one thousand young people) to truthfully represent the lack of trust and fear felt towards the police by young people from global majority communities.

The use of these authentic stories aims to evoke an emotional response from the target audience, encouraging them to consider the ways they can foster feelings of safety and mutual respect in their own practice once they have completed their training and are policing in the real world.

Recording the voiceovers

Our team also worked collaboratively with the children of May Park Primary School, who provided voiceovers for the animation. It felt important that the voices heard in the animation reflected those of the original case studies – further encouraging the viewer to take the time to think about how their interactions with young people really do have a lasting impact.

Even at such a young age, children from global majority communities have lived experience of racism, and this was something we really wanted to reflect upon authentically within the film.

The animation launch

The animation was launched with an official first screening at May Park Primary School in February 2025. Members of our team at CC Animation Studio were joined by representatives from UWE, Avon and Somerset Police, and even the Mayor of Bristol came to watch and reflect upon the powerful messages this animation shares.

Media watch

The launch also gained significant media attention. BBC Points West filmed a segment for their evening news programme, as well as a segment on BBC Radio Bristol and articles on BBC Online, Bristol24/7 and Up Our Street (an East Bristol community magazine).

BBC Online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k58pdwv5eo

BBC Radio Bristol: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0kk0rr4

Bristol 24/7: https://www.bristol247.com/student/news-student/i-want-to-be-able-to-trust-the-police/