Barnardo’s launches its first ever legacy TV campaign ‘Be More Gladys’.

The UK’s largest children’s charity, Barnardo’s, is encouraging people to leave a gift in their will to help increase long-term funding for its services supporting children, young people and families.

The charity has launched its first legacy television marketing campaign to inspire people to leave Barnardo’s a gift in their will. It will feature across ITV, Channel 4 and various Sky channels as well as the charity’s social media platforms. 

The TV advert follows Gladys as she interacts with children, young people and families who are facing challenging circumstances, such as helping a young carer and her dad with household budgeting. Each of the people who Gladys meets are left happier after her help.  

The advert ends with the strapline “Gladys wants to be there for children everywhere. So she put Barnardo’s in her will.” 

By telling the story of Gladys and her decision to leave a legacy to Barnardo’s, the advert showcases the breadth of charity’s work and the impact people who choose to ‘Be More Gladys’ can have by leaving Barnardo’s a gift in their will. 

Barnardo’s CEO, Lynn Perry MBE, said: “Barnardo’s supports children, young people and their families through some of the most challenging times in their lives. We are so grateful to everyone who leaves a gift in their will to Barnardo’s, which plays a vital role in helping us to do this critical work, and to amplify the voice and experience of those we support. This is especially important at a time when more than one in four children in the UK are living in poverty and families are increasingly struggling to pay the bills.

“We’re really proud of our ‘Be More Gladys’ campaign and we hope it will inspire people to leave Barnardo’s a gift in their will so we can continue to support future generations of children and young people.” 

Barnardo’s runs more than 700 services throughout the UK to help children, young people, parents and carers with a range of issues including mental health, child sexual abuse and children in care. Since last October, Barnardo’s has been providing immediate support to struggling families who are in receipt of our services. As of this February, our support reached 8,795 people, including 4,992 children and 2,141 families. The overwhelming proportion of support is to help prevent hunger.   

The cost-of-living crisis has highlighted the vulnerability of all kinds of charitable income and the importance of planning for long-term funding across the sector. Legacy income currently accounts for a significant proportion of Barnardo’s voluntary income. 

A 2020 Legacy Resilience report¹ found that the potential growth for legacy income in the next decade is substantial and could possibly increase by 23%. This is due to factors including greater awareness of legacy giving, rising estate values over the long-term and increased normalisation of discussions around end-of-life plans and care. This helped to inform Barnardo’s decision-making to launch the campaign. 

The ‘Be More Gladys’ campaign has been developed in partnership with creative agency Don’t Panic! It is aimed at the ‘baby boomer’ generation, born between 1946-1964, to inspire them to support the charity by demonstrating its relevance in supporting children and young people both now and in the future.  

George McCallum, Creative Director at Don’t Panic, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Barnardo’s to bring the ‘Be More Gladys campaign to life and demonstrate how she supports and empowers the children and young people she meets.  

“Ensuring hundreds and thousands of children and young people get the varied support they need to thrive is no mean feat – that is unless you remember childhood in your will. This film follows Gladys as she does just that; before picking up the phone and helping these children, she imagines how she will support and help them.”

Watch the ‘Be More Gladys’ TV advert here Gifts in Wills TV advert – Be More Gladys | Barnardo’s and find out more about how to leave a legacy to Barnardo’s here: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/donate/other-ways-donate/leaving-gift-your-will

1 – ‘Strengthening Charities’ Resilience with Legacies’, Legacy Foresight, 2020, LegacyResilienceReport_2020.pdf (legacyforesight.co.uk)

Source: Don’t Panic

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