Action for Children Advert

Action for Children ‘Davina McCall’ DRTV advert New three year appeal Children’s charity Action for Children has launched a major, three year nationwide appeal to highlight child neglect and raise funds to tackle the issue.

The charity is reaching out to the general public through an integrated programme of PR, advertising, marketing, campaigning and fundraising activities to raise awareness and understanding of neglect and the issues surrounding it, as well as raising vital funds to help neglected children and their families.

National, regional and trade media across the UK are being targeted with a hard-hitting news story that leads on key findings of specifically-commissioned research, exploring the extent and scale of neglect - as seen by frontline professionals who regularly work with children.

All activity is accompanied by calls to action to both the public and government to turn the situation around, supported by examples of the charity’s successful work in supporting children and families who are affected by neglect across the country.

The charity will also engage the public through an integrated online campaign using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and a viral email to potential and existing supporters, to encourage people to take their action for children by donating to the appeal, running their own, or participating in, fundraising activities and raising awareness of the issue.

Celebrity TV presenter Davina McCall launched the appeal with a primetime, 3-minute advert that appeared during Channel 4 News (October 12), talking about child neglect and calling on the public to support the charity’s appeal by making a donation.

Press adverts were used to trail the advert, and will continue to be used throughout the campaign. Davina, who will continue to appear in both brand and DRTV adverts, is joined in her support by a host of other celebrities who are supporting media activity, including Timothy Spall, David Morrissey, Jessica Hynes and ‘Shameless’ star David Threfall.

Driving the charity towards its goal of raising £17 million to help neglected children over the next three years, a wide range of fundraising activities are taking place nationwide. These include street prospecting, cold-telemarketing and direct mail to prospective supporters.

The charity is also embarking on a media partnership with eight local radio stations in the North of England and Scotland that are part of the Bauer network. Stations will be engaging listeners on the issue of neglect through locally tailored editorial and online content, in order to raise over £500K in support of the appeal.

“Neglect is a growing problem and one we must fix. The same issues for neglected children and their families are coming up time and time again-but we can make a difference,” said Action for Children’s Executive Director of External Relations and Communications, Polly Neate.

“That’s why it’s so important, through integrated marketing, PR, and fundraising activities that our appeal reaches out to all stakeholders. From parents to policy makers, we need to make everyone aware of just how serious a problem child neglect is right now, to call on them to be extra vigilant, and donate to our appeal so that we can save more children from slipping through the net.”