Barnardo’s is an incredible charity which has protected, supported and nurtured the UK’s most vulnerable children, young people and parents for over 150 years.
The charity offers practical and emotional support to provide those in need with the guidance they deserve.
Barnardo’s also supports children who have been abused and helps them feel safe again, by providing the long-term guidance they need and help prevent further cases of abuse.
From care leavers, to those looking to gain workplace skills, LGBTQ+ young people and those at risk of homelessness, Barnardo’s will help.
The scale of what it provides may be considerable and complex, but its aim is simple – to provide the best outcome for every child, no matter who they are or what they have been through.
With its fostering and adoption services, the charity also helps vulnerable children find loving homes.
For every £1 you donate, below is a breakdown of where the money goes:
- 92p on working with children and young people
- 3p on governance and pension finance costs
- The remaining 5p on raising the next £1
We applaud this great charity for all the thoughtful work it continues to do.
In this blog we highlight how Barnado’s goes to great lengths to raise awareness, provide positive words of wisdom from those who the charity has helped whilst showcasing its excellent campaigns through its social media platforms.
Raising Awareness Of Its Fostering Services
Barnardo’s is the largest not-for-profit fostering and adoption agency in the UK and has over 100 years’ experience of placing children with families.
The charity finds, trains and supports carers and adoptive families so they can transform children’s lives.
The number of children needing foster care has risen by 44% while the number of people looking to foster has fallen by nearly half.
During last week of January 2021, social media campaigns celebrated Fostering Week through the use of a unique hashtag #YouCanFoster, aiming to raise awareness for those thinking about fostering.
Its unique hashtag was featured in over 500 posts from those sharing their stories about fostering.
This significant impact,not only raised awareness about fostering, but also created a community spirit with families who have fostered.
Barnardo’s continues to share helpful information on its social platforms about its fostering and adoption services by guiding people to relevant website pages which contain additional information and highlights what the next steps are for those looking to foster.
Below is a quote from a Barnardo’s foster carer, providing an insight into their own experience. This aims to highlight the importance of what it’s like to foster and how every child fostered becomes an important member of a family.
The charity regularly finds loving homes for those in foster care and utilises its social platforms to raise awareness of its services on offer.
As stated throughout the charity’s website and social channels – every child should grow up feeling loved and supported – and Barnado’s strives to provide this to all those in need.
Fun At Home Activities
As more families continue to homeschool due to the ongoing pandemic, it can be difficult for parents to think of creative, fun and unique ways to educate and entertain their children.
To help encourage parents, Barnardo’s has started to use its social media platforms as a place to provide inspiration and ideas for activities to compete with children from home.
Below is an example which enables children to practice their colours whilst also taking part in a fun treasure hunt style activity.
It promotes these unique ideas through its organic feed and as a result this post received 79 likes from its supporters, parents and families.
iTri Virtual Triathlon
To help raise money to support children in need, Barnardo’s has created its own virtual triathlon, iTri, for supporters to take part in throughout March 2021.
During the 31 days, it is encouraging participants to swim 2.4 miles (or swap for another activity), cycle 112 miles and run 26.2 miles.
Users who want to get involved can download Strava to automatically log their mileage or they can manually submit their progress on their own profile.
Those taking part can even link their Strava account to their fundraising page on JustGiving, meaning they can keep up to date with how their friends and family are getting on.
Users are also able to log their progress through their very own portal and let friends and family keep pace with them.
The charity encourages those signing up to try and raise £100 in sponsorship and in return, all participants will receive a thank you letter and certificate, and those who raise £100 (or more) will also receive a medal too.
Barnardo’s has made virtual events possible and enabled those to come together, get fit and raise donations to help those in need.
Below is a breakdown of where money raised will go:
£25 – Could provide special toys and books for a family with a severely disabled child.
£50 – Could provide specialist support to help a child recover from the trauma of sexual abuse.
£100 – Could pay for providing four young people with bedding and a safe place to sleep.
£150 – Could help pay for 15 young carers to take part in group activities, where they can make friends and build their confidence.
£250 – Could fully fund an eight week course on emotional health and wellbeing for a young person who has recently left care; raising their self-esteem and building their confidence.
This is a great event to help people reach their fitness goals whilst raising money to go towards helping support children and young people across the UK with a range of issues, including with their mental health and wellbeing.
Find out more and sign up here.
Great British Tech Appeal Campaign
Did you know that there are 40m unused gadgets in UK homes, but figures show that around 700,000 children currently don’t even have access to a single device?
Barnardo’s has worked with its partner, Vodafone UK, to help address the digital divide during lockdown.
In the first week of January 2021, 75 smartphones and 353 tablets were provided to 63 of its services.
Donations of these appliances go towards helping care leavers, young people affected by sexual abuse, families and carers and many others stay connected and get the support they need.
Vodafone shared an organic post (below) about the campaign to encourage donations from tech users and raise awareness about the campaign.
This is a great campaign which has enabled many children and families to reach out to their loved ones with the power of social media.
By revealing the success of the campaign, it shows the goodwill and generosity of its supporters and connotes a sense of pride and achievement.
Quotes Of Inspiration
The charity uses its social platforms to share thought-provoking and eye-opening quotes from those who have been supported by its network.
The graphic below stands out on a uniform feed, thanks to its eye-catching hues and engaging typography and highlights a positive message followers can be inspired by.
These organic posts are the best performing on the feed with over 50 likes per post, with one post in particular which was posted on the 10th January which received an outstanding 154 likes.
Barnardo’s social media efforts deserve to be celebrated, from its innovative iTri virtual triathlon to its at home activities.
It has adapted to the current situation we are all faced with, and provides entertaining yet thoughtful social media content across its platforms, that allows its followers some sense of hope for the future.
Through its unique campaigns and inventive ideas it has gained support from many, online.
What do you love about Barnardo’s social media? Let us know in the comments on our post on Instagram or Facebook