Welcoming the world
with open arms.

Migration remains one of the most emotive and divisive issues of our time. Caritas Internationalis, the charitable arm of the Catholic Church, were looking to challenge and change current perceptions regarding the plight of migrants, by encouraging a culture of encounter, understanding, respect and warm welcoming with open arms.

‘Hope is what drives the hearts of those who depart’, said Pope Francis. With this as inspiration, I designed a global awareness campaign called ‘Share the Journey’ to welcome others with open arms.

I saw the potential to deliver an engaging, all-embracing and effective campaign through the creation of an inclusive and accessible call to action - by way of a familiar gesture of welcome: people were asked to take a picture of themselves reaching out with open arms.

In front of 50,000 people in St Peter’s Square and an online global audience of millions, Pope Francis launched the ‘Share the Journey’ campaign. Bringing together migrants, aid workers, the Catholic church and the general public, the campaign included an extensive social media programme, on-going content creation initiatives, hundreds of community activations worldwide and a dedicated website.

The widest reaching campaign that I ever delivered, ‘Share the Journey with open arms’ engaged around 500,000 people within its first 24 hours. It has since been adopted in over 50 countries and has reached approximately 65 million people through social media channels (not including China or Asia).