Jayne Kirkham
CMF Role - Clerk to the All Party Parliamentary Group, political and government liaison. (Board member)
Having never known a world without Doctor Who and having discovered Persian poetry thanks to a Rocky and Bulwinkle cartoon (The Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam), writer and youth activity worker Jayne has always valued children’s media, as a window on the outside world and a mirror to our own.
She believes that, as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, "every child has the right to relax, play and join in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities"; and that "every child has the right to reliable information from the mass media. Television, radio, newspapers and other media should provide information that children can understand [and that] Governments must help protect children from materials that could harm them." But in an increasingly competitive market, with fewer UK shows reflecting UK sensibilities and fewer editorial voices, she has watched her own children and the, often vulnerable, children she works with losing something precious. The UK signed up to the UN Convention but still children's arts and media and their impact on the emotional, educational and social development to young people is not respected. That's why she volunteered for the Children's Media Foundation and strives to make politicians aware of the value of good screen based media to young people.
Jayne joined the Board of the Children's Media Foundation in May 2015.