Help For Heroes Livestream

The charity Help For Heroes commissioned Shout! Communications to stream a live Q&A session on their Facebook page, as part of World Mental Health Day. The aim was to generate awareness for mental health issues among military personnel, promote the charity’s Hidden Wounds service, and to boost the exposure of Help for Heroes’ social media content.

The Project

Help for Heroes are well known for the work they do with ex-military service men and women and have a service called Hidden Wounds to support those with conditions such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or depression. They wanted to mark World Mental Health Day with a campaign that could offer some real help to those listening; they were also keen to make their activity interactive. Live streaming, then using the recorded content on Facebook and social media after the broadcast, seemed the perfect answer.     

Three people took part in the broadcast:   veteran Alex Ford, his mentor Kayleigh Hopkins and TV Presenter Kirsteen O’Sullivan who moderated the session. It was our task to dress the set, then film the Facebook live stream in a professional and engaging way.

What We Did

Help for Heroes are well known for the work they do with ex-military service men and women and have a service called Hidden Wounds to support those with conditions such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or depression. They wanted to mark World Mental Health Day with a campaign that could offer some real help to those listening; they were also keen to make their activity interactive.    

Live streaming, then using the recorded content on Facebook and social media after the broadcast, seemed the perfect answer. Three people took part in the broadcast:   veteran Alex Ford, his mentor Kayleigh Hopkins and TV Presenter Kirsteen O’Sullivan who moderated the session. It was our task to dress the set, then film the Facebook live stream in a professional and engaging way.

Challenges

Help for Heroes are well known for the work they do with ex-military service men and women and have a service called Hidden Wounds to support those with conditions such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or depression. They wanted to mark World Mental Health Day with a campaign that could offer some real help to those listening; they were also keen to make their activity interactive.    

Live streaming, then using the recorded content on Facebook and social media after the broadcast, seemed the perfect answer. Three people took part in the broadcast:   veteran Alex Ford, his mentor Kayleigh Hopkins and TV Presenter Kirsteen O’Sullivan who moderated the session. It was our task to dress the set, then film the Facebook live stream in a professional and engaging way.

Outcome

This live stream was particularly successful, attracting 70,000 Facebook viewers and countless inspiring comments from the audience. This was thanks to a combination of the good social media following Help For Heroes already had, and also the way in which the live stream was presented. It came across as professional, yet still personable and relaxed. The goal of the Facebook Live was to raise awareness, and with a reach of 70,000 on one post alone, we think that was certainly achieved!  

More Case Studies

23. Aug 2022

Parents discovering a passion for science, youngsters sending messages to space. Then astronaut Sir Tim Peake came on board.

4. Aug 2022

A self-published book about graffiti knitting. It doesn’t sound the most likely broadcast PR story. But look what happened!

4. Aug 2022

With hybrid working having become the “new norm”, some of us have skewed the boundaries between home and professional life. Mailbird’s campaign reminding workers about email etiquette therefore was timely.