The children's family educational project Vera and Thomas, a joint project of Vera Radio and Thomas magazine, has turned ten years old. During this time, it has grown from a single audio encyclopedia into a large-scale educational media platform combining educational audio performances, animated comics, a computer game, and family reading materials.
The history of the project began in August 2016 with the audio encyclopedia "Questions of Faith and Thomas, or Tea with jam". The main characters — inquisitive sister and brother Vera and Thomas, their neighbor Dr. Mikhail Gavrilovich and his faithful dog Altai — help children find answers to questions about God, the Church, history, culture and the world around them. Thanks to the fascinating audio performance, the project quickly gained the attention of not only children, but also their parents, becoming a truly family-friendly project.
Today, the project has more than 890 issues. Over the past ten years, the project's audio programs have gained more than 3 million listeners on Vera Radio platforms and over 4 million listeners on third-party digital platforms. The project's community unites more than 80,000 subscribers on social networks, and animated comics have gained over 5 million views. Over the years, a whole educational universe has formed around Vera and Thomas.
The project materials are also presented on the website veraifoma.ru , where articles, stories, and materials for family reading and discussion are published.
Over the past ten years, Vera and Thomas has become one of the most notable Russian educational projects for children, combining educational and spiritual and moral content. The work of the project team was also highly appreciated. For the implementation of the educational project "Questions of Faith and Thomas", its creators were awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of mass media. In addition, "Questions of Faith and Thomas" won the National Award of the Institute for the Development of the Internet in the nomination "Best Podcast". When presenting the award, the project was named the most popular children's educational project on the Runet.
"Today it is increasingly difficult to find a language in which to talk to children about the most important things — about faith, goodness, conscience, love, the history of their country. The Vera and Thomas project, in my opinion, has managed to find such a language. He does not teach, but invites to a conversation, does not simplify serious topics, but makes them accessible and lively.
In ten years, Vera and Thomas has become much more than a children's audio encyclopedia. This is an example of how modern media can help a family raise a child, arouse interest in knowledge, and keep generations connected. It is such projects that show that education can be both deep, professional and truly fascinating," says V.R. Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-Society Relations and the Media, about the project.