The Boaz Trust are a brilliant Manchester-based charity supporting people facing homelessness after claiming asylum. After a successful 2023 Stone Barrell/Boaz Christmas collaboration, where Noah’s Story helped Boaz more than double their Christmas income compared to the same period the previous year (receiving 70% more income from individual gifts and 68% more income from churches and organisational donors between 15 November 2023 and 1 March 2024), we were excited to be asked back to help with Christmas 2024. Last year, Noah told his story so beautifully, and we wanted to make sure this year’s appeal was just as impactful. And to do that, it needed to be completely different.

We pitched the idea to Boaz of speaking to a few of the people they’ve previously supported, filming interviews in a more studio-style setting so the viewer is forced to focus on the person speaking and their story. The team were fully on board, but the challenge was finding people willing to share their story on camera. When Viktar and Rahel agreed (and we managed to co-ordinate a date that worked), we were so grateful! And my oh my, they were absolutely brilliant.

One thing that was really important to both Stone Barrell and Boaz was to make sure we didn’t ask our contributors to relive their trauma or share any personal details about why and how they had to leave their home countries. They’ve had to do that more than enough through the asylum process. Instead, we asked Viktar and Rahel what they wanted to say. What they wanted people to know about them. And what difference love and kindness made to them on their journey. Of course, we needed a little context about what life was like for them when they arrived in the UK for that all to make sense, but that wasn’t the focus.

So when we got this comment on the video the other day, we were thrilled. This is exactly what we were hoping the film Let Love Speak Louder would do:

“I love it that as a viewer you feel close to these people, without them having shared any of the personal detail of their stories.” – Ruth

We’ve had some other wonderful feedback too – both from inside the Boaz team and beyond:

“Such powerful testimonies… Just goes to show the importance of the work Boaz Trust. Superb capture!! P.S. no dry eyes here” – Sam

“Brilliant video... So moving.” – Debbie

“You guys are amazing Sarah Stone and Jacob Barrell! This film is so special, and I can’t wait for more people to see it in the weeks and months ahead.🧡” – Ros, CEO at the Boaz Trust

The video is also nominated for this year’s Smiley Charity Film Awards! Please do take one minute to vote for it. By doing so, you can help more people find out about the genuinely life-transforming work of the Boaz Trust.

As Viktar says: “It’s very important to believe that the miracles they happen, and people who support charities, they can bring this miracle more closer to the people who really want that miracle.”

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What Stone Barrell actually did

As well as planning the shoot, interviewing Viktar and Rahel, and filming and editing the Let Love Speak Louder campaign, we were also heavily involved in shaping the messaging of the appeal. We wrote the direct mail Christmas appeal for Boaz, and much of that copy also forms the campaign webpage www.boaztrust.org.uk/christmas. 

We also partnered with some brilliant companies who gave us great rates on equipment and the backdrop for the shoot. With huge thanks to our production partners Fresh Cut Video, Oxford, for loaning us much of the filming gear you see in the image below (sorry that I also feature quite heavily in the shot), and to Hollins in Manchester who rented us the gorgeous backdrop for better than half price. Their support made it possible for us to create such a visually beautiful video! (We have Viktar and Rahel to thank for the stunning content.)