Refugees: the real story
Launched April 2000
The aim of our Customers Who Care Refugees campaign was to highlight the plight of genuine people fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in this country. We aimed to help change public perceptions and encourage people to be more open minded and understanding towards refugees and asylum seekers by telling the real stories.
Helping us tell the story
We wanted a really effective and attention-grabbing way of telling the refugees’ story, so we enlisted the help of the brightest and most creative minds in the country, through the prestigious Design & Art Direction (D&AD) Student Awards. Their brief was to create a piece of awareness-raising advertising telling the real story of a refugee or asylum seeker. The result was used as our hard-hitting and thought-provoking national press campaign.
Taking the story to the community
A major problem facing refugees in this country is a lack of understanding amongst their new communities. Our campaign aimed to tackle this through a series of 'community cultural exchange events' staged in partnership with The Refugee Council and Refugee Action. The events brought refugees together with members of the local community, and local schools. This enabled the two communities to learn about each other first hand in a friendly and enjoyable environment. The events succeeded in generating refreshingly positive headlines in both local and national media.
You voted, we donated
Our campaign donations were divided amongst the following four charities according to the percentage of customer votes each received:
The Refugee Council
provides a lifeline to asylum seekers dispersed around the UK, with support centres offering advice, English classes and outreach to the most vulnerable as well as hot meals, toiletries and help with travel. Received £21,780
RefAid
the UK charity set up by UNHCR, raises funds and awareness about refugees around the world. Received £15,840
Refugee Action
builds strong networks in areas where there is little other support for refugees and provides practical help and advice to individuals and communities. Received £15,180
Asylum Aid
provides free advice, legal representation and personal support to asylum-seekers and refuges as they go through the asylum process. Received £13,200
Find out about the Bank's current campaign
