Maja Pawinska Sims 20 Nov 2020 // 4:27PM GMT
LONDON — Leonard Cheshire, a leading UK charity that supports disabled people to live, learn and work independently, has tasked Frank with driving donations in the run up to Christmas.
Frank will be leading a digital initiative, #ISeePurple, asking the public to stand in solidarity with people with disabilities by showing how they see purple, the recognised colour of disability. The campaign launches on International Day of Persons with Disability on December 3.
The agency’s consumer and digital teams are working together to engage celebrities, influencers, and social media users to post a purple-themed picture, ask four friends to do the same, and donate £5 to help a disabled person get online this Christmas so they can connect with loved ones they may not be able to see in person, especially during the pandemic.
Leonard Cheshire’s interim executive director of fundraising and marketing, Leslie Davey, said: “Disabled people have been among those most impacted by the pandemic and the lockdowns. With one in two disabled people saying they feel lonely and one in five without access to the internet, Christmas is set to be a very isolated time for many this year.
“We needed a really powerful action to drive fundraising and support Leonard Cheshire’s work in connecting disabled people. The partnership with Frank will help us raise awareness for the isolation and sense of loneliness experienced by disabled people.”
Frank deputy managing director Bianca Lee-Chang, who joined the agency this month, added: “It’s been a tough year for many people within our communities, so we are delighted to be working with Leonard Cheshire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of disabled people this Christmas. Not only are we looking forward to seeing the nation get behind the #ISeePurple campaign by turning social media feeds purple over the coming month, we have also enjoyed seeing how passionate our own team at Frank have been about getting involved and fundraising too.”
Leonard Cheshire was an RAF pilot during the Second World War, who founded his first hospice in 1948, that became a charity in his name. He dedicated his life to looking after people with disabilities, and was married to fellow humanitarian Sue Ryder, who brought many Polish and Hungarian refugee children to England after the war and founded a number of care homes to look after first concentration camp survivors and then elderly and disabled people.
The partnership between Frank and Leonard Cheshire comes after a number of recent new client wins for the agency, including Treedom, G2 Esports and Nicaraguan rum Flor de Cana.