Research by social psychologists shows that prejudice against the homeless can be effectively challenged by learning more about them.

We wanted to find a way of getting the public to hear the real stories of how the homeless kids ended up on the street, to change preconceptions.

But Depaul didn’t have money for a big budget ad’ campaign.

And furthermore, because they work with some of the youngest and most vulnerable homeless kids, we couldn’t use photographic or moving images of the kids themselves.

Bearing in mind our objective of accessing a younger audience, and given that we had a limited budget, we knew that traditional media wasn’t an option.

We made the decision to tell the stories on the streets where the homeless slept to give them an additional poignancy. And this decision gave birth to our campaign thought of “Don’t let their stories end on the street”.

And by using street art as the medium we hoped to draw in a younger audience for Depaul.

However, we knew that these murals would have limited reach. So we built a microsite to host them – along with longer form content, opening up the stories to the world.

And rather than asking for a traditional donation, we asked people to buy a limited edition screenprint inspired by the stories. Every time one was bought a section of the digital walls was removed.

A 100% sell through of our screenprints.

£12,000 raised which paid for 800 nights in emergency accommodation for vulnerable homeless kids.

The campaign cost just £2,784 to produce. This represents a 331% ROI.

The campaign was picked up by online and mainstream media including the BBC News.

54 million media impressions.

£2.64 million earned media.

Engaged a new audience for Depaul UK: young urban professionals.

17% decrease in negative perception of homelessness.