Celebrating friendship shown by children, winners will be announced by Aston Merrygold at an awards ceremony ahead of International Friendship Day on 30th July.
Celebrity dad, singer and musician Aston Merrygold, pictured with his three-year-old son Grayson.
The inspiring new Thomas & Friends International Friendship Day awards commend outstanding acts of friendship from young children over the past year, such as putting others first, kindness, and going above and beyond to help and support a friend.
Nominations are now open online with winners to be announced by celebrity dad, singer and musician Aston Merrygold at an awards ceremony ahead of International Friendship Day on 30th July 2022.
The awards launch today (18th May) with a dedicated nominations website now live at www.thomasfriendshipday.com where, with the help of an adult, children can nominate their friends for an award along with the chance to win them a fantastic prize bundle. Parents could also recognise their own child’s outstanding act of friendship. This is the first time that a high-profile awards programme for children has been tied to International Friendship Day.
Aston Merrygold commented: “The Thomas & Friends International Friendship Day Awards bring such a big smile to my face. I feel really honoured to be helping bring it all to life for all the children across the country who have done such amazing and kind things for their friends. I think it’s going to bring so much joy and happiness to children to be able to thank their friends for their kind gestures. I look forward to meeting all the winners and giving them their trophies and prizes at the awards ceremony for International Friendship Day in July.”
The judges for the awards will include representatives from Mattel and makers of the Thomas & Friends All Engines Go TV series, which is currently airing on Channel 5’s Milkshake!
Claudia Caron, Marketing manager for the UK Thomas & Friends brand, said: “Through a focus on life lessons, the Thomas & Friends brand teaches little ones about the importance of friendship, so we’re proud to launch the Thomas & Friends International Friendship Day Awards for children to recognise and honour incredible acts of friendship. In the coming months we look forward to inspiring families around the country with stories of friendship that have made a real difference to people’s lives.”
In a video recorded at their family home last week for the new campaign and released today as part of the launch, Aston and his son Grayson are seen discussing friendship and some of the things the three-year-old has done for his friends whilst they played with the latest Thomas & Friends track set.
To launch the Thomas & Friends International Friendship Day Awards, the Thomas & Friends brand commissioned a survey of 1,000 parents of young children that found that parents are most proud of their child’s ability to be compassionate, display kindness, and go above and beyond to help and support a friend.
