The Children’s Society

The Children’s Society was struggling to gain influence and recognition in a sector dominated by big charities with big budgets. There was one particular issue, largely ignored by the government, that The Children’s Society wanted us to highlight and help it take ownership of. In the UK there are just 10 refuge beds for the estimated 100,000 children who run away from abuse, violence and neglect every year.

We devised an integrated campaign – Safe and Sound – to demonstrate, in a deliberately gritty way, the consequences of not having refuges for children who are very often running away from abuse at home.

What’s good about it?

Safe and Sound ran across TV, press and direct mail, and focused on getting signatures to a petition demanding action from the government, with a secondary ask for donations. Over 100,000 people signed up to the campaign; the fundraising generated an ROI of 1:2 and the government agreed to look into the feasibility of setting up and funding refuges for child runaways. We’d call that a result.