The Children’s Society has hired a band of magicians to engage members of the public in an innovative street fundraising campaign that uses disappearing tricks to highlight the charity’s project in Newcastle that supports young runaways.

A team of magicians have been despatched onto the streets, community groups and churches of Newcastle to entertain the public using magic tricks and encourage spectators to text their details to support the campaign and to register for more information.

Existing supporters are being sent direct mail using special ink, which, when heated, display a message about the issue of runaways. A grand finale with a ‘vanishing’ celebrity is also in the pipeline of planned activities.

The charity aims to raise awareness about the 400-plus young people that run away or vanish from the streets of Newcastle each year.  Part of the focus for the new campaign is to centre attention on local stories and local spending with a particular push for the Society’s Scarpa project which provides targeted youth support to those who have run away or are at risk of sexual exploitation in the city.

The 'Geordie Magic' campaign is being funded with a £120,000 Nesta grant provided by the Cabinet Office. The campaign has been devised by TheGivingLab, a charity that helps partner organisations to innovate. The grant will cover staff salaries, the technical design of the campaign as well as the evaluation and overheads.

Joe Waterton, director of partnerships development at the Children’s Society, praised TheGivingLab for taking his team on an “amazing innovation roller-coaster ride” and claims the project will “change our own future approaches to innovation”.