Childline Gauteng and Net#work BBDO call for the preservation of what matters most

For over 25 years, Childline Gauteng and Net#work BBDO have built that kind of work together. Since 2001, this partnership has helped craft Childline into a trusted, responsive support system for vulnerable children and families; one that has answered millions of calls, delivered over 200,000 counselling sessions, and reached millions more through awareness and prevention programmes.

Net#work BBDO managing director, Deidre Lodwig

“Our partnership with Childline Gauteng is exactly what we mean when we say we ‘Do Big Things’ says Deidre Lodwig, managing director at Net#work BBDO. “A partnership that allows us to produce work that makes a meaningful difference. That stretches us to think beyond a creative execution, but also to find the vehicle that delivers a message that drives action. It’s not just about the image, it’s about the direct impact it has on the organisations ability to affect societal change.”

Behind those numbers is a deeper truth: a child’s safety is moulded by the world closest to them, that is the family unit. Childline Gauteng’s work reflects this reality. Its services move through crisis response, prevention, education, counselling, and the strengthening of families as a secure base for children. The conditions within the home shape the outcomes beyond it.

With its latest campaign, Family Portraits, Childline Gauteng, in partnership with Net#work BBDO, turns its lens to one of society’s most overlooked contradictions: our ability to preserve what is created, and our failure to consistently protect those who create it.

Net#work BBDO chief creative officer, Jacque Mathee

In galleries around the world, millions are spent preserving art, and protecting it from decay, and loss; entire systems exist to ensure its survival. This campaign draws from this cultural instinct and redirects it toward family. It reimagines some of history’s most recognisable artistic figures within complete, nurturing family settings. These portraits are however a fictional reconstruction of something many of these figures never had: stable, supportive homes.

In doing so, Family Portraits asks an urgent question:

If we can preserve art for centuries, why can’t we protect a child for one lifetime?

“At Net#work BBDO, we understand that protecting children against abuse and neglect begins with strengthening the family unit,” says Jacque Mathee, chief creative officer of Net#work BBDO. “Family Portraits exists to shine a light on that responsibility, and to remind us that preserving families safeguards the future.”