A SILSDEN animator has launched a campaign aimed at inspiring budding young filmmakers, including those in Otley.

Dawn Feather, managing director of InspirEd Workshops, is seeking to develop a children's animation starter kit.

A kit was originally created for youngsters and their parents, who attended a workshop at a children's film festival two years ago.

Demand was so huge, Dawn is now looking to provide an improved product.

A crowdfunding campaign, backed by BIC Kids, has begun on Kickstarter.com to raise the £5,000 needed.

It will run until the end of this month.

"By producing the starter kit I want to really inspire children to be the next generation of animators," said Miss Feather, 32.

"In my workshops, I've seen children use incredible imagination to bring ideas and characters to life – now they can create their own fantastic short films at home. It really is easy to do at home.

"The Kickstarter campaign is an essential platform to develop the product, so that it can be distributed across the UK and then globally."

Pledges start at £1 and include rewards, such as crayons and animation class kits for schools.

If the campaign achieves its target, BIC Kids – an international supplier of children's stationery products – will support the kit by providing its Plastidecor crayons.

InspirEd Workshops has been teaching stop-motion film and animation across the UK for more than 15 years.

It is staging several workshops in the region this summer, including one at Otley Courthouse on August 25.

Miss Feather began teaching film and animation as a young student, whilst volunteering for a summer film club.

She was helped by the Prince's Trust to start her own business when she was 22 – becoming a freelance video editor – and she now works across the UK developing and presenting animation workshops for the education, charity and corporate sectors.

She can often be found at the National Media Museum in Bradford, where she delivers an animation programme for schools.

Miss Feather also designs creative lesson plans for the BIC Kids website and volunteers as a business mentor for the Prince's Trust.

Visit kickstarter.com/projects/2123619807/inspired-animation-starter-kit to support the campaign.