The UK's biggest acting talent support children at Great Ormond Street Hospital with exclusive storytelling

tonies®, United Agents and GOSH

LONDON, Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of Britain's most celebrated actors have pooled their storytelling skills during lockdown to entertain the children at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) with the help of tonies, the leading children's storytelling audio device.®

Award-winning talent including Olivia Colman, Katherine Parkinson and Keira Knightley recorded readings of their favourite children's stories to entertain young patients staying on the wards at GOSH as they receive vital treatment for rare and complex conditions.

The stars worked with tonies®, to help bring this Magical Audio Experience to the children in the hospital. The wonderful collection of stories and poems, delivered by a whole host of incredible actors, was uploaded and locked onto Superhero Creative-Tonies, for the children to listen to in the wards as often as they liked.

Stories recorded include: 'Dr Doolittle', 'In the Night Kitchen' 'Mr Sneeze' and 'The Sulky Vulture' plus a series of poems from A. A. Milne. The readings from actors of both stage and screen were uploaded onto 50 Creative-Tonies for 50 Tonieboxes and donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSH Charity). They were distributed by members of the hospital's dedicated play team, filling the wards with the sounds of captivating readings.

Joel Keating, heading up this project from United Agents, office of Lindy King, comments:

"Sharing positive stories during a challenging few months felt like a way we could truly make a difference to the children receiving treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital. We hope that this project has brought some comfort, entertainment and smiles to them."

Manon Sel, UK GM and Pinky Laing, UK Partnerships at tonies® comment: "We are thrilled to have been able to bring this wonderful idea to life and play our part in helping to offer a welcome distraction to those children currently in Great Ormond Street Hospital by producing this compilation of stories by these amazing actors. Our main goal at Tonies is to entertain and inspire young minds through the magical world of storytelling. When the request came in, we knew straight away that we wanted to help. tonies® are so proud to support Great Ormond Street Hospital."

Laura Walsh, Head of Play Services at Great Ormond Street Hospital added: "We are thrilled with the donation of these stories, which will help to stimulate the imaginations of children during their stay in hospital. It will provide them with a positive distraction during treatment as well as helping to ease the anxieties caused by the ongoing pandemic. A huge thank you to Tonies, United Agents and all the celebrity supporters who lent their voices to this wonderful project."

Katherine Parkinson:

"It was a pleasure to contribute to such a worthwhile project at the start of lockdown. It was wonderful working with the Tonies team to help produce this lovely collection of stories for the children at GOSH who have been unable to see many of their family members because of the pandemic restrictions at the hospital."

Notes to Editor:

About tonies®:

tonies® was launched in 2016 by Patric Fassbender and Marcus Stahl in the DACH market.

tonies® have been present in the UK since 2018. Since then, the Toniebox has been promoting independent, playful listening experiences without screens in children's rooms nationwide.

The intuitive design and combination of figurines, known as Tonies, and a speaker, known as a Toniebox, makes tonies® a unique interactive audio system for children. Available in 6 colours, the eye-catching and easily operated cube allows children to take control of their audio adventures. They simply place their chosen Tonie on top of the Toniebox and the content will start playing; remove the Tonie and it will stop. The playful ears on top of the Toniebox can be squeezed to turn the volume up and down. The soft Tonieboxes are shockproof and have no screens, sharp corners or edges, complicated controls, buttons, discs or cables, making it super simple, safe and fun to use. 

 For further information contact pinky.laing@ext.boxine.de Partnerships UK

About United Agents

United Agents is a global literary and talent agency, representing talent across film, television, theatre, digital and beyond. The United Agents roster includes the UK's leading actors, authors, directors, producers, comedians, presenters and many more.

About Great Ormond Street Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity: 

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's leading children's hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children's healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital's pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children from across the UK with the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. Our patients and families are central to everything we do – from the moment they come through the door and for as long as they need us. 

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity needs to raise money to support the hospital to give seriously ill children, the best chance for life. The charity funds research into pioneering new treatments for children, provides the most up to date medical equipment, funds support services for children and their families and supports the essential rebuilding and refurbishment of the hospital. You can help us to provide world class care for our patients and families. For more information visit www.gosh.org