A GRADUATE has been recognised for her hard-hitting storytelling after animating the plight of a young refugee in a news report aimed at six to 12-year-olds.

Jennifer Henry, from Middlesbrough, worked with Stockton-based refugee charity, Justice First, and spoke to youngsters in North-East primary schools to discuss issues surrounding immigrant children.

Ms Henry was praised for her professionalism after creating a stop-frame animation interview with a Libyan child who has fled to the UK.

The report has earned the journalism graduate an award in the News Category of the Royal Television Society’s Student Television Awards.

Ms Henry said: “The child had to be anonymised, and rather than using a silhouette which is the normal television technique, I taught myself stop frame animation so I could bring it to life and make it as colourful as possible, and turn it into something young children could really relate to.

“I wanted to make a piece for children as a challenge, so I had to make it very visually appealing, and get my interviewees to explain things in very simple terms.

“Children often take whatever their parents say as the truth, and I wanted to make something that gave them a better understanding of the issues so they could make up their own minds.”