Southend Children have produced two short films, to be shown on the Big Screen at the Forum, in Elmer Square on Thursday.

The children identified their "Magical Places" in Southend and did creative writing in response during a workshop in the recent school holidays.

They worked with Southend Libraries, Digital Artist Jack King, Signals Arts Media, Children’s writer JD Irwin, and Performance poet Justin Coe.

One film, ‘Southend Our Friend’ by children and young people from Turning Tides youth group, is in the form of a poem about all things Southend, focusing on the Seafront.

The other is by pupils of Milton Hall Primary School and is a spooky tale, filmed at Southend Central Museum and the Odeon Cinema.

This was a really inspiring project and the children learned many new skills, as well as having a lot of fun. It was supported using public funding by Arts Council England and by a grant from Olympus Keymed.

Hayley Duff, Triple T’s Team Leader at Turning Tides said, “The workshops gave the children the chance to look at where they live and to share positive aspects about Southend. This is important for children to feel proud of where they come from and want to showcase this to others.

"It also gave them the opportunity to learn some new skills around camera, film and animation techniques. They worked together as a team to come up with a fantastic film about where they live which will be shown on the big screen at the library for friends and family to enjoy.”

There will be a celebration event held at the Forum on Thursday 11th May for family and friends when they will be able to view the films for the first time.

The films will be shown on the Big Screen outside the Forum for all to view until 19th May.