Brilliant Benjamin meets Horrid Henry
Wednesday, August 12th, 2020
Benjamin, one of the young people we’re helping through our BubbleBusters project, has been having a horrid time recently but we couldn’t be more happy for him!
He’s a huge fan of the children’s TV show Horrid Henry and was thrilled to be invited to star in a recent official Horrid Henry Unlocked podcast, where he chatted about his favourite characters and episodes. He’s now also the proud owner of a certificate that makes him a member of Henry’s infamous ‘Purple Hand Gang’. Benjamin also had the chance to talk about his little BubbleBusters AV1 robot that lets him ‘attend’ school from home via an iPad while he’s in medical isolation due to his leukaemia treatment.
“I can control its head when it’s in the classroom, and it shows me what’s happening in class if I can’t go to school,” he said during the podcast, “And I get to talk to my friends!”
The telepresent robot has helped him stay socially connected, feel part of school life and prevented him from falling too far behind with his education. It’s going to be a while before it’s safe for him to go back into the classroom in person, but in the meantime his positivity and story-writing skills have recently earned him a ‘Star of the Term’ award. “He’s proud of himself,” said his mum Katy, “and I’m proud of him too!”
That’s even more brilliant news from Brilliant Benjamin, and we look forward to supporting his family and school for as long as he needs to make his isolation a little less horrid.
Huge thanks to Lucinda Whiteley and all the team at Novel Entertainment who are behind the Horrid Henry Unlocked podcast, and B4, organisers of Oxford’s BIO2020 event where we first met.
Below: Benjamin on the Horrid Henry Unlocked podcast