Cash for Kids x Stand Out Socks

KEY POINTS

Client: Cash for Kids
Project: Mission Christmas x Stand Out Socks
Job type: Charity campaign film and social content
Location: Stand Out Socks HQ, Warrington & Hits Radio, Castlefield, Manchester
Timeframe: July to September 2025
Production: One shoot day
Campaign goal: Encourage more people to support Mission Christmas through donations or by buying the special Mission Christmas socks
Sales target: At least 3,000 pairs of socks

What we delivered:

• One hero campaign film
• One shorter film focused on Stand Out Socks’ role in the campaign
• Three social media cutdowns

The project formed part of the Eight Engines charity video scheme, giving Cash for Kids a high-production-value campaign film and supporting social content.
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THE CHALLENGE

Cash for Kids’ Mission Christmas helps make sure children living in poverty have something to open on Christmas morning.

For this campaign, they partnered with Stand Out Socks to create a special ‘Mission Christmas’ sock, with £1 from every pair sold donated to the charity.

The main job was simple: get more people supporting Mission Christmas - either by donating directly or buying a pair of the special socks. The campaign had a target of selling at least 3,000 pairs.

But telling that story came with a few challenges. For sensitivity reasons, we couldn’t film the families receiving the gifts, which meant finding another way to show the real impact of Mission Christmas.

We also had seven interviews to capture across two locations in a single day. And, just to make things more interesting, we were filming a Christmas campaign in the middle of summer.

So the challenge wasn’t just getting everything filmed. It was making sure the finished piece still felt warm, emotional and genuinely Christmassy.
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THE PLAN

The creative approach was built around simple, human storytelling. We used interviews with the people closest to the campaign to explain what Mission Christmas does, why the Stand Out Socks partnership mattered and the difference people’s support could make.

Because we couldn’t film the children and families receiving the gifts, Hayley Peters from Autastic became the emotional heart of the film. Working directly with families supported by Mission Christmas, she could speak honestly about the impact the campaign has without putting beneficiaries on camera.

We also filmed cinematic walking shots of Hayley talking with Lauren from Cash for Kids around Castlefield. It gave us a tasteful, natural way to show the relationship between Mission Christmas and the organisations supporting families on the ground.

Across the day, we filmed seven interviews alongside B-roll of the Stand Out Socks team at work, moving from their HQ in Warrington to the Cash for Kids hub at Hits Radio in Castlefield. Here we interviewed Gemma Atkinson, whose role as a Mission Christmas ambassador brought a familiar, personal voice to the film and helped reinforce why the campaign matters and the difference people’s support can make. 

With scheduling, production and post all taken care of, Cash for Kids could focus on the campaign while we focused on turning everything into one clear, emotional story.
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THE RESULTS

From one day of filming, we created a suite of content that could tell the Mission Christmas story across different platforms.

The hero film brought together the purpose of Mission Christmas, the impact on families and the Stand Out Socks partnership. A second edit focused more closely on Stand Out Socks, while three shorter social films gave the campaign additional content for social channels.

And the reaction from Cash for Kids was exactly what we wanted to hear:

“THANK YOU so much for all of these, they look amazing, you’ve done such a top top job on these, we’re really happy.”

They also added:

“Thank you to all of your team for their work on this project, it’s been so straightforward.”

Group Campaign Manager John Stratton awarded Eight Engines 5/5 overall, including five stars for quality, schedule, cost and willingness to refer, saying:

“I’m impressed by Eight Engines’ attention to detail.”

Stand Out Socks Director Christian Laing also gave the project 5/5 across the board, highlighting the team’s communication throughout the project. Stand Out Socks also reported satisfactory sales following the campaign.

Seven contributors. Two locations. One shoot day.

And one clear story designed to make people care about Mission Christmas - and give them an easy way to support it.

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