Grayling Blog

I was recently asked to provide an ‘Expert Opinion’ in the next issue of Communication Director and I was delighted to endorse the British NGO's "War Child" campaign. Who could not support a PR programme like The War Child Heroes Campaign? It is shocking for me to learn that most of the people who lose their lives in war zones are children - so anything this organisation can do to raise awareness of that issue deserves positive endorsement and action.

War Child is certainly not, in my mind, a Top 10 charity either in size or awareness terms. Therefore, its success in creating a music album by bringing together 15 musical icons to select a favourite song from their classic back catalogue - and to then nominate the new act they most trusted to create a unique interpretation of that hand-picked track - was very clever thinking. Add to that the concert with stars such as Coldplay and Bono - and a t-shirt designed by Paul Smith - and you have a package which is both ambitious and creative for a charity which, by its own admission, is small and has very limited resources .

Looking at this charity’s very cool website www.warchild.org.uk , they're clever about how they put their message across and place emphasis on talking directly to children. There are comprehensive links to Facebook, Flickr, Bebo and Twitter.

I'm interested to know how much money this initiative eventually raises for the charity but, in the meantime, I've ordered my album - how about you?