Last week two charities launched interactive Facebook apps to raise awareness of the work they do.

St John Ambulance launched a game last week as part of its Helpless campaign to encourage people to learn first aid.

The Rescue Run app was developed by Animmersion after St John Ambulance decided it wanted a fun way to increase young people’s awareness. Players race against the clock to reach the cinema in time and earn points for helping injured people along the way.

Sue Killen, chief executive of St John Ambulance, said: “We’re committed to helping people learn first aid and Rescue Run is a fun and entertaining way to do this.”

Meanwhile Barnardo’s created the Re-write app to add a Facebook element to its sexual exploitation campaign which it hopes will raise £1.5m in the next year.

The app was developed by the charity’s advertising agency, Bartle Bogle Hegarty as part of the Life Story television advertising campaign. In the app Jessica’s story appears on screen as though she is typing it; the user can then re-write her story by dragging the word ‘believe’ onto it and see the words re-arrange themselves into a positive ending.

Assistant director of marketing Lindsay Gormley said: “The app gives the user an insight to the reality of sexual exploitation and shows how belief in a child can rewrite their story and help change their future.”

So far more than 2,200 people have used the app.