Jerseywoman Claire O’Brien (31) and her partner Chris Hobbs (30) quit their accounting careers in London to launch the children’s educational website historybombs.com in 2014.
The website specialises in short videos, each of which covers a different historical period in under six minutes, with actors and actresses playing the roles of famous people throughout history.
And the creative efforts of the History Bombs team were rewarded on Sunday when they received the Children’s Bafta in the Learning category, at an awards ceremony held at the Roundhouse in Camden, London.
‘We put an application in for the award because we thought we had nothing to lose and we got the news that we’d been shortlisted in October,’ explained Miss O’Brien, who is a former Beaulieu pupil.
‘It was very unexpected, but we’re very excited and delighted.
‘We started History Bombs to bring history to life for children everywhere and the reaction has been fantastic. To be recognised by Bafta is a testament to the incredible work our small, creative and passionate team have delivered.’
Schools pay to access the content on the History Bombs website, which includes a description of the video’s content, a transcript of the clip, teacher’s notes, worksheets for students and a quiz.
‘We have had hundreds of schools across the UK and internationally sign up for History Bombs content,’ added Miss O’Brien. ‘We’ve even had a school in Guernsey sign up, but we haven’t had any Jersey schools yet. It would be great if some Jersey schools could sign up.’
The couple have published 40 videos so far and content on their YouTube channel has been viewed more than 5 million times. They have also recently collaborated with the BBC on video projects.
‘We try to shoot in historic locations around the UK and this year we’ve been lucky enough to work with BBC Learning,’ added Miss O’Brien.
‘We’ve been making videos on Northern Irish history with them and this content will sit somewhere on the BBC website soon, and we’ve also worked with English Heritage to promote one of their new exhibitions at Stonehenge.’
Last year Miss O’Brien and Mr Hobbs turned the business into a public limited company.
‘I think we can go from strength to strength,’ Miss O’Brien said. ‘We just really enjoy the whole creative process involved with History Bombs and the positive reactions and feedback we get from kids and teachers from around the world is really rewarding.’
- If any Jersey schools would like to sign up to History Bombs’ content, they can visit historybombs.com for more information.
