Partners

Starlight launch partnership with Featherbed Tales

We're excited to launch our partnership with Featherbed Tales

We've partnered up to provide a wonderful way for parents, loved ones, and play specialists to connect with children in hospital, during long or isolating hospital stays.

The Featherbed Tales app allows you to narrate, record and share digital books with loved ones, brought to life with the magic of your own voice.

You can write your own story, poem or record your memories along with your own illustrations, images and photographs.

Find out more

Children who listen to stories in hospital felt less stress, improved wellbeing, felt less pain and needed less pain relief than children who did not. They also felt more positive about being in hospital.

In addition, compared with children undertaking other activities such as puzzles and games, those listening to a story experienced twice the level of positive impact

Brockingtona et al, Center of Natural and Human Sciences, Federal University of ABC, São Paulo

Since launch at the end of 2020, Featherbed Tales has developed into a platform with a range of recordable children’s stories, nursery rhymes, poems, stories for older readers and greetings cards. They were recently awarded a grant by Innovate UK and have created “Your Story, Your Voice” where you can create and record your own stories along with your own photographs, images and illustrations.

They have since worked with the Get Suffolk Reading (supported by the National Literacy Trust) and other organisations to develop new content and tap into children’s love of tech and their delight in hearing their own voices recorded - and so share lots of story time magic.

Caroline, founder of Featherbed Tales, shared:

"Some years ago a good friend of mine died from a brain tumour, she left behind a young son who was too young to have many memories of her. One day when I was tidying his bedroom I came across a photo album which I opened. There was a photo of my friend and a clunky button which I pressed. I heard my friend’s voice saying “Hello, I’m your new mummy”. It was the book they had created for their little boy when they adopted him.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and it immediately connected me to my friend in a way that a simple photograph does not – rather in the way that certain smells can instantly take you back to a time, a place or a feeling. It made me realise how important are the voices of those we know and love and how they can re-connect us with people instantly."

We are delighted to partner with Starlight Children’s Foundation to enable children to experience this story time magic, to be connected with family and friends and to feel comfort and reassurance when experiencing illness or hospital stays.

Caroline, Featherbed Tales