Barnardo’s has today launched a fundraising television campaign based on the issue of the grooming of children for sexual exploitation.

The appeal features a young girl on her computer while an older man describes the ease with which children can be groomed on the internet. The ad does not ask outright for a donation, but rather a request for £3 a month is overlaid in text over the ad. Parents are encouraged to contact the charity for a guide on how to protect their children from sexual exploitation online.

Martin Field, director of fundraising at Barnardo’s, said: “The thinking behind the advert is to alert people to the importance of the work we do in highlighting the risks to children of sexual exploitation and protecting them.

“We want to warn parents that their children’s friends aren’t always what they seem and we want to touch people’s hearts and make our cause their cause.”

The advert aired first this morning on Comedy Central and will run across a variety of digital channels until the end of this month.

Peter Muffett, co-founder of production company DTV which made the ad, said: “Developing a strong enough proposition that works across many day-parts was the real challenge here – making the ad responsive may sound obvious but can often be overlooked. As we often find, sometimes the best way to acquire donors is not to ask for a donation.”

The Be Safe fundraising campaign builds on the charity’s ‘Cut them free’ campaign to stop the exploitation of children. 

Separately, NSPCC is piloting a telephone helpline for sex offenders in the Midlands.  The 24-hour line will be available to sex offenders under probation supervision and will run for two years.

Interested in DRTV? Look out for the October issue of Fundraising magazine where we feature a practical guide on 'How to get DRTV working for you'