Star Wars fans raise £250,000 for children’s charities by re-enacting favourite scenes
Melanie May | 12 April 2018 | News
Star Wars fans have raised £250,000 for Barnardo’s and Together for Short Lives in a fundraising campaign organised by Santander.
The campaign was part of a partnership between Santander and Barnardo’s, which saw the bank pledge to be a “Force for Good” and raise up to £250,000 for the charities.
To this end, its campaign, which ran in December, asked people to film or photograph themselves re-enacting their favourite Star wars scenes and upload the results to a dedicated site. For every Star Wars photo or clip uploaded, Santander donated £25 to each charity. More than 5,000 entries were uploaded, meaning that the bank reached its fundraising target of £125,000 for each charity.
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The submissions included children defeating Darth Vadar with lightsabers, chickens dressed up as Jedis and Storm Troopers defending a goal during a game of football.
Also joining in the fun were former F1 World Champion Jenson Button, who filmed a clip with fan favourite droid character BB-8, and Star Wars actor and Barnardo’s supporter Warwick Davis, who also filmed a Star Wars-themed clip to encourage people to take part.
Fifteen winners received a Star Wars hamper prize filled with themed goodies, while grand prize winner Simon Tilley, from Trethomas, in Caerphilly, Wales, winning a Star Wars inspired trip to Skellig in Ireland, one of the locations featured in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan said:
“It has been fantastic to see how many people got into the spirit of the campaign and submitted videos and photos. They have all been brilliant. The money raised will help us to support thousands of vulnerable children, young people, parents and carers through our 1,000 vital services across the UK.”
Santander Chief Marketing Officer Keith Moor said:
“We are absolutely thrilled to be able to donate an amazing £125,000 to each charity. The entries have all been brilliant – they have been so creative and we really hope everyone enjoyed creating them as much as we enjoyed seeing them! We know the money raised will go to really worthy causes and will make such a difference to young lives around the UK.”
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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.