Help the Aged embarks on Xmas Web campaign

The campaign is based around an interactive website www.saddestnumber.org.uk, which mixes Flash animation and visuals to communicate older people’s issues to a younger audience.

The campaign is aimed at helping isolated older people.  Research by Help the Aged shows that one million older people spent Christmas Day alone and that nearly five million depend mainly on television for company throughout the year.

The website depicts one solitary bauble on an otherwise empty Christmas tree – illustrating the harshness of loneliness and how alienating it can be, particularly at this time of year. 

Visitors to the site can donate £5 or more to Help the Aged to purchase a bauble to add to the tree. 

The fun then begins as each animated bauble can have a personal message attached to it and there is the option to create and name your own tree to be shared with family members, friends or even work colleagues via the internet, encouraging them to donate further baubles and raise awareness of the issue.

There is the option to buy more expensive decorations, including ones you can design yourself.  The sky is the limit, or at least the top of the tree where the fairy, the most expensive option at £100, can go!

Alison McCormack, Head of New Media, said: “The move into dedicated sites to match our offline, direct mail activity is a leap forward for us.  We believe that by designing exciting and interactive sites, we can develop our fundraising with a younger audience and help bring the serious message of isolation to a wider audience. “

One is the Saddest Number is supported by door drops, magazine and newspaper inserts and direct mail, encouraging people to visit the web site while helping to raise awareness of the loneliness faced by many older people and generate funds.

Case studies and information about isolation are conveyed on the web site and in campaign material to help raise awareness and understanding about the major problem of isolation among older people.

Money raised from the campaign will help fund Help the Aged services targeted at  isolated older people. 

These include SeniorMobility, which helps older people’s groups and projects to purchase vehicles and transport equipment, and SeniorLink which is a home telephone service that connects older people to a response centre for emergencies or reassurance.