Take The Drum’s #PullA180 challenge to help turn around young lives
The Drum, in partnership with Shutterstock, has teamed up with top creative talent to launch the ‘#PullA180’ digital fundraising campaign and is inviting everyone across the industry to donate 180 minutes of their time to help turn around the lives of children in the poorest regions in the world.
To support the organization United World Schools (UWS) on its mission to provide free quality education for children in remote areas, agencies and brands are being challenged to spend their three hours to get involved and spread the word across social media, ultimately to drive traffic to the UWS donation page. This dynamic, visually led digital campaign has been devised by a team of creatives across the globe and urges the public to #PullA180 by doing absolutely any activity they like.
Creative solutions can range from basic awareness to ambitious fund-raising concepts - for example, challenging your followers to #PullA180 themselves by organizing a three-hour charity walk, knitting a 180cm scarf, or even holding a virtual danceathon with 180 friends. The list goes on...
The UWS 180 Challenge invites corporates, schools, influencers and the general public to take part in a bid to raise $74,500 (£50,000). All funds raised through this initiative will help to give thousands of children a chance to go to school for the very first time.
“We realized immediately the importance of The UWS 180 Challenge, and how its themes of philanthropy and social impact echo the collective spirit at Shutterstock,” said Aiden Darné, Global Head of Shutterstock Studios. “Harnessing the power of storytelling, and our global reach working with brands and creatives from all over the world, we are proud to play a part in amplifying this meaningful mission.”
The Drum is challenging you, the creative community - who are well used to pulling the odd all-nighter - to #PullA180 and give three hours of your time to help spread the word across your social media channels.
Why three hours? That is the time it takes 6-year-old Amir to walk to and from school every single day; that’s three hours of clambering up steep hills and through dense vegetation. In his region of Nepal, less than a third of the population completes primary school, keeping children in remote and marginalized communities trapped in a cycle of poverty and illiteracy.
Across the world, 59 million primary-aged children are already missing out on education, and the rapid spread of a new Covid-19 variant means that accessing a safe, quality education is more difficult than ever before. Amir’s school is now shut completely, and his lessons are being taught on the radio. Just £10 ($14) could provide a child from a remote area of Nepal with a radio to keep them learning through radio lessons… and doubled, could give a radio to a second child.
“Every child deserves the opportunity to go to school,” said Tim Howarth, chief executive, UWS. “Through developing schools, training teachers and empowering local communities, UWS gives children like Amir the opportunity to access education, and a chance to live #HappilyEverSmarter. We are thrilled to have The Drum and Shutterstock driving the UWS 180 Challenge. Together we will make going to school a reality for thousands more primary-school-age children, many for the very first time in their lives.”
How will you choose to #PullA180?
Amir’s resilience inspired the #PullA180 challenge, and we want to help turn the lives of kids like Amir around, by helping to raise the funds to build more schools. The Drum believes marketing can change the world and those in communications are ideally placed to help communicate why this is a worthwhile cause across social media.
“The ALS ice bucket challenge was brilliant so we hope this viral concept can prove transformational as well, but in this case by providing more kids with an education,” said Lynn Lester, managing director of events, The Drum. “We would be delighted if our colleagues simply used their expertise to raise awareness of UWS. We were incredibly excited and humbled to take up this mission and look forward to seeing the roll-out of what we aim to be a lasting, impactful, and results-driven campaign.”
The Drum will follow the progress and report on the various concepts that have been launched. The idea which gains the most social traction will be reshared and amplified across all The Drum’s available channels. Agencies and brands taking part in the challenge will have access to filters, information of key hashtags and the link to the donation landing page.
#PullA180 launched on June 28 and will run until July 29, 2021. The challenge is part of a wider UK Aid Match campaign where the government will double any donations to UWS before the campaign comes to an end.
To get involved, please visit https://www.unitedworldschools.org/180-challenge-donate.