BBC sports presenters of the future on Red Alert!
Fabio Capello might well be looking for England footballers of the future, but Northamptonshire based PR consultancy Red Alert Media believe they might well have unearthed some potential BBC sports presenters for World Cups to come!
Red Alert Media's senior partner Peter Jones spent two days with ten-year-old "wannabe" TV stars from Northampton primary school Preston Hedges, putting together their own 'World Cup Grandstand'. The finished product was shown to teachers, fellow pupils and parents.
Said Peter: "It was a great project for a class of their age to be involved in, and I was proud to head it up on behalf of a school that has been great to my two sons.
"I took three of the children to BBC Television Centre in London, where they had the opportunity of interviewing sports journalists and presenters about the World Cup, and had a great day.
"Then we spent a day filming a variety of items around the school, including features on penalty kicks and goalkeeping with the former Watford goalkeeper Alec Chamberlain, reflecting on England's performances - or lack of them - during the tournament, and also an item on women's football.
"The kids were fantastic! In our two lead presenters, I'm sure I unearthed a potential Gary Lineker and Gabby Logan of the future. Our reporters asked some great questions and we had some fun with our pundits, who all had very strong opinions about players, games and the World Cup generally."
Paul Watson, Head Teacher at Preston Hedges, said it was a 'marvellous experience' for the Year 5 children. He said: "Peter is one of our parents, and I was interested to learn about his background as a journalist in newspapers, radio and televison.
"When I mentioned we were going to be encouraging various projects around the school to coincide with the World Cup, he offered to donate his time to give Year 5 the chance to be involved in making a TV programme, and it was fantastic, and very exciting. The finished product was outstanding, very polished and professional, and we were all taken aback at how good it was.
"I think everyone who took part, as presenters, reporters or producers, will remember it for a long time after they've left school, and who knows, Peter might have inspired some of them - even at this young age - to think about a future in broadcasting!"
Posted by: Red Alert Media
