Mortal Fools has won a prestigious Northern PoWEr Women Award for the impact of its innovative primary school mental health programme, MELVA. The charity
took home the Inclusive Innovation: Tech for Good award for its children’s
wellbeing digital platform, which is currently being used in around 100
primary schools across the North East.

The Northern PoWEr Women Awards, supported by Barclays and Bank of
America, took place in Manchester on 12 March. The event shone a spotlight
on individuals and organisations driving equity, inclusion and social impact
across the North. The awards – celebrating their tenth year – received 1,800
nominations, with 90 independent judges choosing the winners.

The award coincides with an important milestone for Mortal Fools and the
MELVA programme, which has now reached 10,000 children across the North
and will be presented to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Createch at the
Houses of Parliament in April.

The Tech for Good award recognises organisations using digital innovation to
create meaningful social impact, celebrating technology that improves lives,
communities and opportunities. Mortal Fools’ MELVA platform stood out to
judges for its creative and preventative approach to supporting children’s
mental health in primary schools – focused on storytelling and participatory
learning, through films, animation, literature, games and classroom exercises.
This national recognition of the impact of the MELVA programme comes at a
critical time, as children’s mental health needs continue to escalate nationwide
and schools seek effective and engaging ways to support them.

In the 2025/26 academic year, around100 primary schools are currently using
the MELVA programme, benefiting upward of 10,000 children.

Kiz Crosbie, Artistic Director and CEO of Mortal Fools, celebrated the news,
saying:

“I am delighted and proud that the impact of our Melva Digital programme has
been recognised at the 2026 Northern PoWEr Women Awards.
This award acknowledges the success of our digital platform and participatory
storytelling as an early intervention and prevention approach to children’s
mental health and wellbeing.

In receiving this award, we share it with all of the teachers who use the
programme in their classrooms, the talented creatives who have been part of
making it , and the belief in this work demonstrated by our key funding partners
– especially the North East Combined Authority and the Kavli Trust – who have
been fundamental to the programme’s development and growth in the last few
years..”

Alongside this award and a growing number of schools adopting the MELVA
programme, Mortal Fools is proudly advocating for creative learning as a
leading approach in mental health education nationally – supporting the
wellbeing of young people across the North East and beyond.

If you’re interested in using MELVA in your school, click here to register your interest with us.

A brand new stage show, set to tour the North East this spring, is putting the online 
experiences of local young people centre stage. 

Mortal Fools Ensemble Young Company will present WIRED, devised and 
performed by its cast of young people from Ashington and the Tyne Valley. The 
show will highlight their talents and dig into what it really means to grow up in a 
digital world – amid all the tension, pressure, drama, and connection that comes with it.  

​Audiences can expect an original soundtrack, bold set design and a powerful story 
that we can all relate to. This isn’t just a theatre show, it’s real talk about how social 
media, AI, and being constantly online shape who we are and how we feel in 2026. 
The production will come to Newbiggin Sports and Community Hub on Saturday 
21 March, Gosforth Civic Theatre on Sunday 12 and Monday 13 April, before a 
final show at Arts Centre Washington on Thursday 16 April. 

Touring the region at a time when the government is consulting on and considering a possible under-16s social media ban as part of broader online safety measures, 
WIRED is a relatable must-see for teenagers, young people and anyone interested in 
understanding the impact of life online. 

Mortal Fools Lead Practitioner and WIRED Director Scott Wilson said: “It has been 
such a pleasure to work with our Ensemble Young Company to produce WIRED. 
“For every passing generation, the presence of social media and the online world in 
our everyday lives – particularly through our phones – becomes more immediate and significant. WIRED explores both the connections and the challenges that young 
people find online, in a way that’s witty, emotional and unfiltered.” 

“I'm hugely proud of the work that the Ensemble group have put into developing the 
show. This is a completely original story, where everyone has brought their own 
experiences – the good, the bad and the ridiculous – to the table, and what they’ve 
created together is remarkable.” 

Zoe Lamming, Mortal Fools Practitioner and Dramaturg, said: 
“You can expect to be entertained, to have lots of fun, and to really enjoy hearing 
young people’s perspectives about what life is like online for them. It’ll make you 
think and it’s so heartfelt too; we hope you’ll find that it’ll connect closely to your lives and experiences.” 

Mortal Fools will work with Newcastle-based Meerkat Films to bring the production 
to the screen, ensuring it reaches more audiences across the UK. The filmed version 
will act as a resource for schools, youth and community groups, helping to foster vital conversations about life online and will be released later in 2026. For updates, 
audiences can subscribe to the Mortal Fools newsletter. 

Click here to find out more about WIRED and book tickets.

​Melva Mapletree and the Great Undoing will launch at Live Theatre, Newcastle, during national Children’s Mental Health Week, bringing together interested parties from health, education, local authorities and the cultural sector. Attendees will also experience an interactive installation inspired by the book and Mortal Fools are running free family sessions across February half term week, in partnership with Live Theatre’s Live Tales.  

Jack McNamara, Artistic Director/Joint CEO of Live Theatre: "We are really happy to be supporting this launch, with the wonderful Mortal Fools and our close collaborator Danielle Slade. In the year that Live Theatre’s children’s creative writing programme Live Tales turns ten, this is the time to shout as loudly as possible about the brilliance of young creativity." 

Click here to find out about our FREE Family Creative Workshops this February half term week. 

FUNDED LICENCES are available for primary schools interested in the Melva Programme. Click here to register your interest.