Burkitt
Due to my creative partner Philly's personal battles with NHS gynaecological wait times, we created this campaign for small charity Women's Health Hope on a shoestring budget.
Coinciding with the London Marathon, "The Painathon" reframed agonising gyno wait times as the ultimate endurance test – giving all 766 000 women waiting for care the opportunity to turn their pain into power,
and fundraise for WHH.
The hero images were shot by Georgie Wileman, an award-winning photographer who lives with endo-induced chronic pain, and featured Nat and Evie, real women showcasing their real wait times and scars.
These were linked to our JustGiving fundraising, which aimed to raise a symbolic (and punchy) total of £27k to represent every woman waiting over a year for NHS care.
On social, women printed their own personalised bibs or used our IG sticker version to share their stories and join in the JustGiving campaign. There was a big outpouring from the community – it even inspired poetry and one moving posthumous tribute.
We flyposted the London Marathon route to hijack attention.
It boosted our views on social, and went to the top of the global r/Endo subbreddit.
The campaign (plus Monica and Philly personally) garnered PR – from industry press (kudos to Philly for the greatest Drum headline of all time) to local papers to radio appearances on the BBC.
There is more to come on the Painathon...
The finale is delayed largely due to the chronically-ignored ill-health of the women involved in this campaign.
Effects:
1m+ views (approx.) across social with 0 media budget
22% increase in WHH's Instagram following
25 pieces of PR coverage
Credits:
Creatives – Me & Philly Baines
CDs – Rob Griffiths & James Hudson
ECD – Dave Billing
Producer – Emily Henderson
Photographer – Georgie Wileman