Parents are being urged to opt-in to the child organ donation register with a life-saving campaign from NHS Blood and Transplant, looking to increase support for children waiting for transplants.
Developed by creative agency Wunderman Thompson UK, the work aims to drive paediatric organ donation sign ups in support of an agency colleague and her family, who are desperately waiting for a transplant.
Katie and Graham’s three-year-old son Ralph, who suffers from a rare form of liver cancer, has undergone eight cycles of chemotherapy since January and his best hope for survival is now a multi-organ transplant. His parents fear that a donor may not be found in time to save his life.
A series of highly emotive ads will run across radio, print and out-of-home, with the radio ads narrated by Ralph’s mother, Katie. The print campaign will be featured throughout the national press, in titles such as The Times, The Telegraph, The Metro, Daily Mail and Daily Mirror.
‘Consider This’ will look to shine a spotlight on the experiences of young people like Ralph and the vital importance of registering a paediatric organ donation decision.
With media support for the campaign provided by Wavemaker, Bauer and Global, out-of-home assets have been planned to maximise reach in high-impact sites across Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Southampton and London.
Wunderman Thompson UK creative director Chermine Assadian added: “Within the industry we often always say advertising doesn’t save lives. Well, in this case, we hope and pray it will.
“This is the most difficult and overwhelming brief I’ve ever worked on, but when we heard about the situation we didn’t hesitate. There’s an urgent need to create a national debate, getting more parents to have the difficult conversation and ultimately register their children as organ donors. All our energy and our thoughts are behind Katie, Graham and Ralph.”
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The first phase will launch ahead of NHS Organ Donation Awareness Week (18 – 24 September) to encourage more parents across the UK to consider organ donation for their children, and to register that choice with their GP.
In the UK, organ donation from a child cannot be performed without the consent of parents. Across 2021-22 however, only 52% of parents gave this consent. This resulted in only 40 donors under the age of 18 becoming available, while 243 children are currently awaiting transplants.
“For many children on the transplant waiting list, their only hope is the parent of another child saying ‘yes’ to organ donation at a time of immense sadness and personal grief, yet, families tell us that agreeing to organ donation can also be a source of great comfort and pride,” said NHS Blood and Transplant lead nurse for paediatric donation, Angie Scales.
“We ask that families take a moment today to consider and confirm their support for organ donation, so it is not something you have to consider and discuss for the first time should the unthinkable happen. We also know that many children respond positively to the idea of organ donation, so this is something which can be discussed in a simple way by the whole family.
She continued: “With more people confirming their support for organ donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register, we hope to be able to save more lives of children like Ralph, both today and in the future.”
