London Irish The Big 5 & Global Action Plan

Objective

The award-winning environmental charity Global Action Plan wanted to promote their initiative Climate Squad in order to educate their target audience of families on practical changes they can make in their everyday lives that make a huge impact on the environment.

Slingshot Sponsorship was tasked in creating synergy between the charity and the established London Irish Rugby Club to activate an experiential marketing campaign that engaged rugby fans alongside the London Irish Rugby Club’s series of events – The Big 5.

Solution

Alongside two of the London Irish Rugby Club Big 5 games, Valentines’ Day and Festival of Rugby, we co-ordinated and managed two main activities: Operation Pump it Up and Bust a Flush.

Operation Pump it Up

A team of young volunteers set up in the Madejski Stadium’s car park and set off to show people how much money they can save along with how much their carbon footprint can be reduced by keeping their tyres pumped at the correct levels. Car owners were asked to opt in at the entrance and then lined up to take part. Volunteers pumped tyres while others explained how their impact affects the environment.  With over hundreds of cars lined up for each game, it was a very successful operation.

Bust a Flush

Global Action Plan volunteers dressed as hippos went about educating spectators walking around the Madjeski Stadium prior to kick off.  Attracting young children through face painting and their unique costumes, volunteers gave away water saving devices to parents and educated the entire family on reducing their water usage.

Results

The Global Action Plan initiatives not only raised awareness of the charity, it also made a significant difference to the environment, which included:

  • 209 households took and used the water saving devices given
  • Save 1.73 tonnes of carbon with operation Bust a Flush
  • Save 5.93 tonnes of carbon with operation Pump it Up

This resulted in a total of 7.66 tonnes of carbon savings throughout the sponsorship programme.