Yazan’s heart repared thanks to Banijay France

In april 2022, Banijay France employees beautifully responded to a solidarity challenge launched by Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque.

One year after Airelle’s team, whom efforts had allowed the heart surgery of a little Malian girl named Mariam, 138 walkers and runners took action and covered more than 20 000 kms, recorded in a sport app.

To reward these efforts, LOV Group paid for the surgery of Yazan, a 4-year-old syrian boy suffering from tetralogy of Fallot, a heart illness causing cyanosis and extreme tireness.

Yazan had surgery on June 14th 2022, and after a few weeks of recovery in his Franch foster family, he could get home with his eldest brother Zain, who also underwent heart surgery for another defect. Yazan and Zain went back to Syria alongside their family and they are now perfectly well.

This solidarity challenge has been the subject of an episode of LOV Group’s CSR podcast, Ondes Positives, with the participation of Banijay’s staff and Colomba Chetochine from the NGO, who helped banijay organizing the challenge.

To listen to it : ONDES POSITIVES – EPISODE 2 – MECENAT CHIRURGIE CARDIAQUE

Since its creation in 1996 by the first French surgeon woman Francine Leca, Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque gave heart surgery to 4000 children from all over the world, in 9 hospitals throughout France.

More : Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque


Baniday 2022, an unforgettable day for children in hospital

On June 22nd 2022, more than 150 Banijay France employees and stars took part in Baniday, the group’s worldwide annual day of action for sick children.

‘I’ll be smiling for three months!’

‘I’ve worked here for 20 years, and I’ve never seen such an emotional day.’

At the children’s hospital and rehabilitation centre in Bullion, Yvelines, the children and staff were thrilled by the visit from Banijay France staff and the stars of some of production company’s flagship programmes.

In the morning, Namadia and Coumba from Koh Lanta talked about their incredible experiences and adventures on the programme. They helped decorate the hospital’s sports centre, while 30 Banijay staff worked on gardening and installing a football pitch for children and teens.

Meanwhile, Magali Bergdah, the founder of Shauna Events, and influencers Marwa and Simon Castaldi who have hundreds of thousands of followers, held a social media workshop for teenagers in the hospital and their carers. This led to a passionate and informative conversation about the problems of fame and digital exposure.

At the end of the morning, TV star Cyril Hanouna arrived with an armful of presents for the children and teens. He spent several hours chatting with them and handing out signed photos – not forgetting taking time to chat with each carer he met in the tree-lined paths of the hospital.

After a great lunch, it was the Fort Boyard team’s turn. Chef Willy Rovelli, Passe Muraille and Passe Partout came to play with bundles of enthusiasm. After lots of fun in the garden, it was time for afternoon tea and a personalised video message from Père Fouras, live from the Fort! They then handed out hundreds of signed cards and precious Boyards, special coins from the Fort Boyard treasure trove.

At Necker Hospital, a team of musicians from ‘Don’t Forget the Lyrics’ arrived to fill the auditorium with music, with 20 Banijay employees. Magali Ripoli and her team had prepared a special musical set, with plenty of room for improvisation to suit the children, allowing them to come up on to the stage and sing their favourite songs. The Banijay staff, who set up the stage, were the first to see this interactive and joyful show.

An hour later, musicians from Beau Soir productions put on a classical music concert designed with kids in mind. Two violinists and a cellist played classical music and Disney themes in the hospital courtyard, not just for the children but also for parents and staff.

On the Necker Hospital campus, there were meetings all afternoon with researchers in the Imagine Institute, the number one centre for research into care and teaching around genetic illnesses. The Banijay staff had the chance to explore this unique place, to go into the laboratories with the researchers and to find out about the world of top level research.

Some of the Banijay employees also spent time in the 19th arrondissement, with the Envol team, who organise holidays with medical support for very ill children and their families. They helped the children make decorations for a big event this September which will celebrate their 25th anniversary and sending 20,000 people on holidays and days out.

In the evening, the Envol teams had the privilege of taking part in TPMP, Cyril Hanouna’s programme on C8. They met the presenter and the team, learning about the day to day of programme making and what goes on backstage. The day before, other young people and Envol employees had the thrill of being in the audience for Koh Lanta 2022 final on TF1.

The Banijay production teams were delighted to welcome children, teens, care staff and volunteers to several of their programmes: Les 12 Coups de Midi on TF1, Don’t Forget the Lyrics on France 2, Lego Masters on M6 and 28 Minutes on Arte.

A huge thank you to all the Banijay and LOV staff, and to all our production stars who gave their knowledge and enthusiasm so generously in the hospitals or in their studios. Children, teens, care workers, technical and administrative staff, parents and volunteers will all have happy memories of the event for a very long time!

 

 


Banijay France joins Ecoprod

The audiovisual sector and the film industry release 1,7 million tons of CO2 each year in the atmosphere (source : étude Ecoprod 2020), which leads to an increasing amount of waste and pollution.

In this perspective,  Banijay France is proud to engage with ECOPROD, with the aim to raise people's awareness, train, support and give our teams the best tools to create sustainable TV productions.

 

Chloé Rossignol, Head of CSR at Banijay France : « We are delighted to join ECOPROD. The TV industry needs us to get together to make it as sustainable as possible, and this is the meaning of Banijay France's membership.

One of our goals is to integrate eco-referents to our productions, in order to work towards sustainable shooting.

 

François de Brugada, CEO of Banijay France : « Our engagement with ECOPROD alongside 90 other companies ready as we are to support the ecological transition consists in implementing the best tools to set up environmentally friendly productions. As a major player of the industry, we must do our best to act now in the interest of future generations. »