One of Alan Rickman’s final films was a short video made by students trying to raise money for the refugee crisis.
The video was the work of Oxford University students, for their charity OneClickGiving, who hoped the charming film would go viral and generate ad revenue that they could then donate to charity.
The 30-second feature was released in December, only a few weeks before he sadly died from pancreatic cancer aged 69.
In it, Rickman uses his trademark gravelly drawl to narrate the story of a tortoise snacking on a strawberry and he explains that each click generates revenue, which is in turn donated to charities supporting the refugee crisis.
In the video, Rickman reads:
We’re trying to make a viral video to help refugees. We’re slowly gathering views as this tortoise munches away.
It works like this: the more views it gets, the more advertising revenue YouTube will give us.
We give that money to Save the Children and Refugee Council. All you need to do is watch and share.
Together you and this tortoise can make a difference.
Rickman worked with a number of charities around the world. Most notably, he was the honorary president of the International Performers’ Aid Trust, a charity that works to fight poverty amongst performing artists all over the world.
The video is currently at 2,661,631 views and raised an estimated £1,792 which is impressive, but if you could just take 30 seconds out of your day and give the video a watch yourself, you could help them earn so much more.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.