Brandon’s new film, We Can! has been written by and stars people we support across the south of England and south Midlands.
Our mission at Brandon is to create a world where people of different abilities truly belong and part of that work is focused on amplifying the voices of people with lived experience.
Why we have made a film
We know we have a positive impact on the people we support and our wider communities. Our work in the past six months to produce our 2024 Impact Report included gathering lots of examples of that work in action.
Our Whole Life Approach means we support children, young people, working age adults, older adults and people with complex health needs to live their lives as they choose.
Our Impact Report is an inspiring and enlightening read and we knew we wanted to make sure our impact was also shared through a film, that would be accessible to lots of people, including people who currently don’t know enough about autism and learning disabilities.
Creating our script
Colleagues from across Brandon, in operational roles and support services teams, worked with our Adventurers (people with lived experience who are paid by Brandon to deliver co-production projects) to develop our film brief and our script. They also worked with filmmaker Mark Davies, who was chosen by the film team following a tender process.
Together, they decided they wanted the film to show that everyone supported by Brandon is unique, that people are not best represented by a label that society has given to them and that people are capable of more than they are sometimes given credit for.
Who are our stars?
The film features, in order of appearance:
- Helen England, Chief Executive
- Janis, Brandon Adventurer
- Ruby, Marketing Assistant
- Jasmin, Marketing Manager
- Brandon Adventurers at work
- Zoe, supported in North Somerset – Clevedon
- Lucy, Tom and Kate, Brandon Adventurers
- Nanaki, Trainee at Elm Tree Farm Shop
- Nick, Trainee at Elm Tree Farm Shop
- Nicola, Wayne, supported in London and Rafiat Support Worker
- Tony, Chris, Peter supported in Trowbridge
- Richard, supported employee at Brandon charity shop in Bristol
- Eleanor and Lydia ladies in the pub, supported in Cornwall
- Tony, supported in Trowbridge
- Ash and Mark, supported in Trowbridge
- Nathan, Brandon Adventurer
- Lan, supported in London
- Giles, supported in Cornwall
- Wayne, supported in London
- Kieron, Brandon Adventurer
- Nicola, supported in London
- Darren, supported employee at Grimsbury Farm Barn Cafe
- Hannah, supported employee at Brandon Packaging
