Housing charity St Mungo’s has launched its first user-generated digital content campaign to raise awareness of its work by asking online supporters “will you wake up to homelessness with us?” 

Fronted by celebrity ambassador Victoria Emslie, actress from Downton Abbey, The Theory of Everything and 12 Monkeys, the Wake Up To Homelessness campaign has exceeded a Twitter reach of 3.5 million, over 30,000 Instagram interactions and 1,300 new website users in under a month.

Participants on social media were asked to post a selfie after waking up and use the hashtag #wakeuptohomelessness to encourage their followers to think about those who have slept on the street. Users were asked to snap, post, nominate and donate.

The campaign attracted a number of celebrity fans, including actor Laurence Fox and presenter Phil Spencer taking selfies to support the charity. Other notable names included Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson from Love Island, actresses Tamla Kari and Amanda Abbington, Made in Chelsea star Mimi Bouchard, actor Alex Walkinshaw from The Bill and singer Fleur East.

Hayley Creasey, Digital Fundraising Manager for St Mungo’s said: “By asking everyone to share photos of their morning, we were aiming to get people to think about those who woke up outside on the streets rather than in a nice warm bed. The campaign has already achieved considerable reach and strong donation levels. However, our main objective was awareness and campaign virility.”

St Mungo’s is one of the UK’s leading homelessness charities, providing a bed and support to more than 2,800 people every night. St Mungo’s works directly to support people who are sleeping rough, in hostels or are at risk of homelessness. By offering a recovery-based approach, the charity empowers people to rebuild their lives.

Full-service digital marketing agency Itineris produced the interactive content wall for the campaign that ran through October 2018. The wall featured user-generated images pulled through from hashtags on social media. St Mungo’s has previously worked with Itineris on its website redesign which saw online donations increase by 66% in the first year.

Josh Crawford, Analytics & CRO Manager for Itineris, added: "We designed and built the UGC wall, which included entry moderation, a gallery photo wall and email opt-ins. The campaign was extremely effective as an educational piece and a revenue generator, but also had a halo effect on the wider St Mungo’s social media and website as a whole.”

Itineris is a premium Wordpress development and digital marketing agency, with offices in Ipswich and the City of London. A Google partner, the agency has over fifteen years’ experience in strategic planning, research, consultancy, implementation and measurement for clients in a range of industries including not-for-profit, education, tech and financial services.