Christian Aid seeks to beat the Monday Blues with a "Beacon of hope"

Brought to life by a Ugandan artist and transformed into a stained glass-inspired ‘Beacon of Hope’, the extraordinary installation will be erected on the grounds of Southwark Cathedral between the 16th – 29th January. Bursting with light and colour, the three-metre-tall beacon, a first of its kind, is designed to lift the spirits of the nation on Blue Monday whilst raising awareness of injustices and inequality.

The activation forms part of Impero’s wider creative platform, ‘United by Hope’, to  demonstrate how injustice can be overcome when we take a positive stance. The bright five sided stained-glass prism, lit from within, conveys important messages around food, equality,  health, climate, and injustice.    

Ugandan artist and writer Matt Kayem illustrated each message in his signature style, working  in mixed media on recycled denim stretched into canvases. Matt was chosen because of his  unique artistic take on social issues, exploring identity, race, history, and culture through  installations, collage-paintings and photography.    

Goodstuff Communications will take the installation online through a bespoke media  partnership with Time Out London. Through their social accounts, Christian Aid will sponsor  Time Out’s popular First Look social series which will deliver beautifully shot content of the  installation itself through their backstage pass type filming style. Christian Aid will also be the  key feature in their “Blue Monday Beaters” listicle - 7 things to do in London to beat the Jan  blues this week. 

The London agency will also target messaging to relevant communities on Reddit and through  Christian Aid’s own channels during the two weeks that the Beacon is live.    

In addition to the installation itself, Ocean Outdoor supported Goodstuff with an incredible  opportunity in the out-of-home space, where the Beacon of Hope messaging was prominently  positioned at ten high-impact sites across the UK from the 2nd January to welcome in the new  year and bring hope to the masses. These sites notably included a beacon in its own right - the  iconic IMAX in Waterloo - and all designed in the same powerful stain-glass effect to  encourage people to feel united by hope, and support the charity’s work. 

Al Mills, Joint Executive Creative Director at Impero says: “For most people,  January is at best, a dreary aftermath of the festive season. We wanted to create something  that would be the antithesis of that, a thing of beauty, light and colour that really demonstrates Christian Aid’s mission to unite people all over the world to bring about  change.”  

Kimberley Ferguson, Brand Marketing & Creative Lead at Christian Aid adds:  “2022 was a tough year for so many people. Following such hardship, it is natural to feel  despondent, but we mustn’t give up hope. Christian Aid’s Beacon of Hope is a reminder of  what we can achieve when we are united by hope.”  

Genevieve Tompkins, Managing Partner at Goodstuff says: “Christian Aid’s brand  platform “United by Hope” provides a great opportunity to deliver resonant, relevant  campaigns to consumers in key contextual moments. We were delighted to bring the Beacon  of Hope campaign to life for Blue Monday in such an impactful way, securing unprecedented  media value with support from Ocean Outdoor. “