Worthing charities feature in Smiley Charity Film Awards 2025

Billy & Beyond's animated film Billy's Story features in the Films – Under £100,000 category, Dad La Soul's crowdfunder campaign #GiveMe5Dad is in the Longform Under £500,000 category, and Samaritans' film Becoming a Samaritan, featuring Worthing volunteer Mark White, is in the Films – £15-£50million category.

Since the awards were launched seven years ago, they have become a cornerstone of positive change in the UK, supporting more than 5,000 charities.

Entries are categorised based on the Charity Commission’s turnover brackets for income in the past financial year, so smaller organisations are just as likely to receive an award as the larger, more established ones.

There are additional categories for long-form films that last over eight minutes, as well as Corporate Cause and International Impact.

The powerful animation film Billy's Story, with a hard-hitting drug awareness message, was premiered at the launch of Billy & Beyond CIC at the Pavilion Atrium on Worthing seafront in June 2023.

Worthing mum Nicci Parish founded the drug safety awareness project in August 2021 and it later became a community interest company. Her son Billy died in November 2020 after taking MDMA to celebrate his 24th birthday in lockdown and the film tells his story.

Nicci explained: "Billy's story is why Billy & Beyond exists, our aim is to increase drug safety awareness in young people and help parents to have those conversations with their young people that are often considered difficult and taboo. We strive to support and enhance children and young people's mental wellbeing and look to support individuals and families thrive."

Dad La Soul's crowdfunder campaign #GiveMe5Dad is aiming to raise £10,000 to build social lives that save lives by bringing dads back from the brink of despair.

Founder Dan Flanagan, a father of one from Worthing, wants to end social isolation and save dads from the silent struggles they face every day. He launched his grassroots movement in 2017 to helps fathers build communities where they can share, connect and thrive.

The organisation currently runs regular playdates for dads and their children, as well as dads-only meet-ups in Worthing and Brighton, as well as a series of online events.

In Samaritans' film Becoming a Samaritan, Worthing volunteer Mark White tells how the charity helped him rediscover himself after going blind suddenly.

He shares his difficult journey after losing his sight to glaucoma to encourage others to volunteer. He credits Worthing Samaritans with saving his life by supporting him to become a listening volunteer.

The public voting stage of the Smiley Charity Film Awards 2025 closes on January 29. Those who have registered at smileycharityfilmawards.com can vote for as many films as they like but they can vote only once for each film.

Nicci said: "It's like the Oscars for charity films. We are so delighted to be included but to get to the next stage, we are relying on a public vote."

Entrants could win a gold, silver or bronze award for their film in the People’s Choice or films selected by the judge. The most popular films in the public voting rounds receive People’s Choice awards. The best-performing films receive Charity Film of the Year and People’s Choice Film of the Year.