Christmas charity appeal films for 2023: part 2
Melanie May | 20 December 2023 | News
Here are more of this year’s Christmas appeal films from charities big and small, showing how they’re communicating the need for funds over the festive period.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Appeal builds on previous Christmas fundraising initiatives with a focus on highlighting real stories of hardship, and the solutions provided by the charity’s staff and volunteers.
The ad, ’Christmas Wishes’, shows young ‘Tom’ alone on the streets, cold, hungry and desperate. It cuts to ‘Katy’ and her mum struggling to make ends meet, coping with rising bills and living in poverty to the extent that their Christmas has been ‘cancelled’. Next, ’Jack’ is alone, isolated and forgotten in a high-rise flat with no human contact for weeks – and Christmas will be no different. Their stories are told in 30- and 60-second ads, with the ad produced by WPNC. Actor Robert Glenister provides the voiceover and the Salvation Army band plays festive music.
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Scope
Featuring disabled actors, Scope’s ad describes the difficult dilemmas disabled people and their families are wrestling with showing that life costs more for disabled people and that for many “Christmas is broken”:
A mum, whose daughter is disabled and uses a powered wheelchair, puts back a toy on a supermarket shelf; choosing between a Christmas present for her child, or feeding her family. An elderly man wearing a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask is alone at home, as his wheelchair stands unplugged from power; choosing between charging his wheelchair to visit friends, or being able to breathe. A mum shivering and in pain under a blanket, next to her mobility aid, as her teenage son brings her a sandwich, choosing between heating her home to stay well and eating a hot meal. The ad has been created by integrated marketing agency WPNC.
Habitat for Humanity GB
Habitat for Humanity Great Britain’s Christmas video appeal tells the story of the ‘forgotten homeless’. The short film in collaboration with poet Tomfoolery asks how “we could just walk past and ignore” those sleeping rough on the streets of Britain.
The video runs alongside the charity’s Empty Space to Homes programme. This Christmas, Habitat for Humanity GB is inviting people to be part of the solution to help the charity transform empty spaces into liveable and functioning homes for the ‘forgotten homeless’. Donations to the programme will allow Habitat for Humanity GB to transform empty, disused or dilapidated properties into decent homes for vulnerable young people. The charity estimates that in renovatingvacant office or retail spaces, currently owned by Local Authorities, 19,500 residential units could be created for the forgotten homeless.
Alzheimer’s Society
Christmas has lost its sparkle features Adrian who has dementia with Lewy bodies with his family talking about how Christmas has changed forever due to his condition, and how Alzheimer’s Society has helped. The ad shares how calls to the charity’s helpline are expected to rise by 60% after Christmas and asks people to help by donating.
BookTrust
BookTrust has taken an animated approach with its 2023 Christmas appeal, with separate videos showing a young girl and a young boy and the difference receiving a book makes to them. The charity is asking people to donate £10 and help more children discover a joy of books.
ChangingFaces UK
ChangingFaces UK’s Christmas appeal video tells the story of two year old Finley who has lymphangioma and his parents, who explain how important the charity’s support has been to them since Finley was born.
Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland
Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s appeal features Gary who tells the story of how he had a stroke in 2021, how it changed his life, and how Fiona from the charity has helped him. It asks people to give so that more families like Gary’s can have time together after a stroke.
Winston’s Wish
Winston’s Wish’s appeal is called Wish I could wish you a Merry Christmas and shows children making Christmas cards and being asked who they’re for. One boy says it’s for his mum, and the film shows him bringing it home to an empty bedroom and bringing out a memory box for her, before his dad comes in and tells him how she would have loved the card.
Royal British Legion Industries
This Christmas appeal from RBLI hears veteran Nigel who ended up without a place to live when his second wife died. His son found him a place to live at Greenwich House – an RBLI A 24-apartment assisted living scheme, which is part of RBLI’s Centenary Village development in Aylesford.
Glass Door
Colin Firth voices Glass Door’s Christmas appeal film. “Homelessness can happen to any of us” spotlights the reality of homelessness in London, introducing four characters who are experiencing different kinds of homelessness. It explains how 1 in 50 Londoners are currently experiencing homelessness and that even more will be facing the reality of not having somewhere to call home this holiday season, explains how Glass Door helps, and asks people to consider making a donation this Christmas.
Age UK Plymouth
Age UK Plymouth’s appeal film starts with just words and the noise of people, and then tells how Terry turns 99 on Christmas Eve and sometimes doesn’t hear a single voice for a week. It asks viewers to help it beat loneliness and isolation this Christmas by donating, and shows what different sums of money can provide, from £10 for a friendly face to deliver a Christmas meal, to £20 for someone to have a meal and attend a Christmas party. It then shows clips of older people having fun, thanks to the charity can provide through the donations it receives.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.