Hi, I'm Sarah McCrum, founder of MagicUs, a new social enterprise creating magical multimedia for kids to help them master life.
Our first project is called Secret No 1. It will reveal to children some amazing secrets for overcoming headaches, stomachaches, earaches and other aches and pains that are an inevitable part of growing up.
We need your help to get this project funded, so we are looking for $12,000 to create a multi-media iBook + website (for those without iPads) aimed at 9 to 12 year olds.
It will not be a traditional book, but more of an experience - a story told through video, audio and pictures (with text as well) which will train children in some great techniques for relieving pain, simply through enjoyment of the story itself. The idea is that they will then be equipped not only to use those techniques for themselves but also to help their brothers and sisters and friends when they need help too.
In return for your contributions we would like to give you copies of the finished product to give to all the children in your life, along with some other small gifts.
A small taste of Secret No 1
...you see a small girl fall over and hurt her leg. You watch her for a moment, wondering if she is going to scream. And then you walk towards her, wanting to comfort her, but something strange is happening. She isn’t crying. You have an odd feeling she isn’t going to cry. She starts to mumble some words but you can’t hear them. She’s beginning to smile...still muttering to herself. Her leg looks so painful to you...but yet, it seems, not to her. You are intrigued and you sit down close to her to listen to what she’s saying...”
This little girl will show the reader, through the story, how she gets rid of pain. She will be acted (in audio recordings) by an 8-year-old who is very familiar with Secret No 1 and is already able to teach other children. With her encouragement they will learn that they too can help others, once they have mastered the secret themselves.
magicUs
magicUs is a world and an experience for 9-12 year old children that is entered through multi-media products (iBooks, games, websites). It fuses the imagination of the child with its own magical atmosphere.
Once inside magicUs children are invited to discover secrets that they can take back to their world and share with their friends. They are taught by the inhabitants of magicUs how to apply each secret to themselves and others so they become adept in its use. They can share it by inviting other children into the world of magicUs or by sharing the knowledge they have learned themselves.
The first secret
Secret No 1 introduces children to simple, tested and effective techniques that quickly transform and release the pain of many common ailments and accidents - from headaches, earaches and stomachaches to kicks, bumps and grazes.
Children can easily learn to use these techniques and share them with others. magicUs creates a world where they learn by having fun. It uses story, video, audio and pictures to lead children to learn one of the most powerful ‘secrets of life’ that will forever make their most painful moments easier to handle and quicker to overcome.
The story itself will do all the work, so parents will not need to help their children. The secret is actually medically recognised and yet, strangely enough, the vast majority of people do not know it.
Why pain?
We want to share secrets that will be genuinely useful to children, not just 'nice'. Sarah had lots of headaches when she was a child. They usually lasted 1 to 2 days and she regularly took aspirin or paracetamol for them. Eventually the pills stopped working and she just had to wait for the headache to go away. Once she learned the secret we will share in Secret No 1 she didn't have any more headaches. She wishes she had learned it as a child.
Can you help?
This is the first of a series and it needs funding to get it off the ground. We are looking for $12,000, which will be used as follows:
$300 for photos and photo galleries
$3300 for creating video materials
$1200 for recording audio materials
$1500 for developing the web experience
$1600 for creating the iBook
$100 for an ISBN number
$300 for travel expenses
$2000 for testing materials with children in different countries
$1500 for equipment - so we don't have to do everything on an old iphone
$200 for video editing and other software
How we will reward you for helping
One of the principles of Secret No 1 is for kids to share their new 'secret' with their friends. So it is in the same spirit that we feel the best rewards we can offer for your support will be things you can share with the children in your life. This is the concept of 'Pay It Forward'. (If you have never seen the film of the same name we really recommend it.)
So we are offering copies of Secret No 1 for you to give away - and the more you donate the more copies you get. The biggest donors will be able to give copies to all the children in a school of their choice, or even a children's charity.
We hope you can imagine how many people you could reach this way. If a child learns how to solve headaches and stomachaches they will teach their children and grandchildren when they grow up - and you will be the start of a chain reaction, changing history for ever.
We will also give you some small extras to make sure you get something tangible for yourself too.
What if we don't reach the full amount?
If we had less money we would have to keep the initial version simpler (ie less video, fewer photos, no web-page, no new equipment and limited testing with children). Then we would come back to it later, once we have sold enough copies, and make the fuller version. But it would be much better to make the full version straight away.
What if we make more than $12,000?
Firstly we would see that as a very positive sign that this is going to be very successful. Then, if it was significantly more than we have asked for we would pay someone to do some of the work, especially to make more powerful videos. And it would allow us to start working on Secret No 2 immediately - maybe even Secret No 3 too. We have quite a few more secrets waiting to be revealed.
A bit more about us
Sarah worked with children for 15 years as a BBC radio producer, specialising in interviewing children all over the world. She was particularly inspired by a charity called Child-to-Child who showed her how children naturally share with their friends and family any skills they learn - especially connected with health and wellbeing. She was also deeply impressed by the many children she met in many different cultures who desperately wanted to help other people and make a difference in the world.
For a long time she has wanted to make something practical for children that helps them to make the most of some of their best qualities - their generosity, kindness and openheartedness. Secret No 1 is the first step.
Alex and Jimmy are both long-term friends, former clients (of Sarah) and great supporters of the project. They are the PR, social media and fund-raising team par excellence.
Jimmy has been working with kids and their parents for many years, helping them to solve an array of problems and get more out of life.
Alex is founder of Megazip Adventure Park in Singapore. He has 3 children of his own and he has enormous enthusiam for anything that can improve the lives of the younger generation. He has also walked to the South Pole, as you can see in his photo!
Niko is Sarah's husband and loves making videos. He is also an excellent critic, so he is the first point of feedback in everything we do.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you really like this project and would like to contribute in other ways here are some ideas:
- Get it out around your network (by email, social media or just talking with enthusiasm - and make sure you have a link to this page to share with people)
- If you know a child aged between 9 and 12 who would like to help test some of the materials and give feedback let us know.
- Tell a school or children's charity about it. If they donate now they would get free copies forever for all their children at a tiny fraction of the cost of buying them - but they need to act fast. This offer only lasts until the funding campaign ends.