Children's Charity Barnardos Asks Ireland Not to Leave Children in the Dark This Christmas

Independent creative agency The Public House have today launched a national fundraising campaign across print, social, digital, and radio for Barnardos Ireland.

Barnardos work with, and for, vulnerable children and their families all over Ireland. Their services are particularly necessary over the holidays, more so in a year when food poverty, heat poverty, electricity bills and homelessness are all on the rise. 

The campaign’s strategic approach came from Barnardos’ belief that childhood lasts a lifetime. While the charity category focuses on fulfilling immediate needs with crisis appeals, Barnardos take a bigger picture approach, better equipping children and their families for the rest of their lives. They believe what happens to us in childhood impacts the rest of our lives, this is when resilience is formed and bounce-back ability created. Childhood memories (good or bad) are even stronger at Christmas. 

The creative strategy wanted to simultaneously show magical Christmas scenes that all children would experience in an ideal world, and the stark reality actually being faced by many families in Ireland this year. A snow globe was found to be the best vehicle to encase the great metaphor of Barnardos providing a safe space.

Polish children’s illustrator, Martyna Nejman, brought these illustrations to life. Her style evokes a playful nostalgia usually associated with bedtime stories. On closer inspection, there’s a deeper, darker side to what you’re viewing. The imagery inside each snow globe is filled with warm hues of reds and gold to create a sense of joy, juxtaposed by cold blues outside, reflecting the sombre reality for many families. 

Sean Bergin, National Fundraising manager at Barnardos Ireland said, “We were delighted to collaborate with The Public House again this year to raise awareness of how difficult Christmas can be for so many children and to highlight that every child deserves a happy Christmas. We really value the ongoing pro bono work and creativity that the team at Public House bring to the table to highlight the issues vulnerable children face at Christmas time”.

Paul Kinsella, art director, The Public House added, “At no point does the statistic that 90,000 children are in consistent poverty in Ireland stop shocking us. Our campaign illustrates the kind of hope your donation will give vulnerable children and their families this Christmas. Your generosity can outshine their darkness.”

Working with Barnardos since 2020, The Public House is one of Ireland’s leading independent creative advertising and design agencies, driven by the philosophy that ‘Boring Doesn’t Sell’. Their roster of ambitious clients and brands also includes FBD Insurance, Mediahuis Ireland, Dunnes Stores and EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum.