Evaluation report - BUZZ OFF campaign 2008/9
Name of Programme:BUZZ OFF!
Budget:£3,000 including VAT
Timeframe:(Continuation from November 2007 – March 2008)
Start Date: 1 April 2008
End Date: 31 March 2009
Objective: .
Objective:
To gain support for a national halt to use of ultra-sonic dispersal devices.
Results:
Two corporates have changed policy
70 (out of 82 that responded) local authorities don’t use or have banned the mosquito
Outcome Indicators – results again plan
- Met: Identify where 350 ultra-sonic devices are located
- Met: Gain support from 40 organisations for our campaign
- Met: Gain support from 1000 young people for our campaign
- Met: Gain support from two corporates not to use ultra-sonic dispersal devices
- Exceeded: Gain support from ten local authorities not to use ultra-sonic dispersal devices
- Met: Gain support from five police forces not to use the ultra-sonic dispersal device
Output Indicators – results against plan
- Completed: 100 invites sent to young people signing up to support the campaign -
- Part-met:100 views shared via the BUZZ OFF room on 11 MILLION’s website
- Completed: 100 invites sent to parents/adults signing up to support the campaign
- Completed: One meeting with the manufacturer/suppliers
- Completed:One letter and meeting with APCO
- Completed:Letters and one tele-conference with all local authorities directors of children services
- Exceeded: One piece of national media coverage – broadcast
- Exceeded: Five pieces of national media coverage – print
- Exceeded:Ten pieces of regional coverage – print or broadcast
- Completed: Letters to CEO’s of interested voluntary sector organisations, all 11 MILLION takeover day participants and children’s disability groups
- Completed: Two briefings sent to all parliamentarians
- Completed: Two briefing and two meeting with ministers/civil servants
- Completed: Letter to health professionals
- Completed: One inclusion in a 11 MILLION quarterly report
- Completed: Three campaign development participation sessions with young people across England
- Completed: Three steering group meetings.
DETAILED PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
MEDIA
TV/Radio/Online – (see appendix 1 for further information).
The campaign received widespread coverage across all forms of media. Sir Al and other members of the BUZZ OFF campaign team did numerous TV and radio interviews and the campaign was reported in all the national newspapers, a large number of local newspapers, online, as well as the trade press.
The campaign was reported and discussed in all of the main daily national newspapers.
There were over 550 mentions of the campaign in regional newspapers.
Members of the campaign team were interviewed across all of the main UK TV and radio stations
The campaign was also covered widely in the trade press and general news magazines.
All the major national and regional newspapers covered the story, as well as major news outlets like Reuters, PA and Associated Press. The campaign was extensively covered on the BBC website, where an online debate invited over 6000 emails. It was also covered on Google news, where it was the top story and on other major websites including MSN and Yahoo. The campaign also initiated countless blogs and opinions from internet users from around the world.
The campaign was covered extensively around the world. Sir Al and Rob Williams, former 11 MILLION Chief Executive did interviews with various TV.Radio stations from countries, including France, Finland, Australia and Canada.
Media evaluation of the campaign showed that key campaign messages reached
64% of the UK adult population, who were exposed to the coverage an average of seven times
66% of parents
65% of 16-18 year olds
74% of teaching professionals
Example coverage
14 June 2009
Kent bans high-pitch Mosquito which targets youths (The Guardian)
'Anti-teen' security device ban. (BBC Online)
8th July 2008
A top city councillor has refused to receive a petition from six schoolboys who are campaigning against ultra-sonic 'child-scarers'.(The Plymouth Herald)
27th August 2009
Mosquito under scrutiny. (Plymouth Herald)
27th October 2009
Mosquito buzzer could be banned for discriminating against teenagers. (The Daily Telegraph)
11 MILLION Website
Over 90 children and young people shared their views on the device with 11 MILLION via our website. Here are some of the things they said
“I made this shape because that is how i feel about the devices, they are dreadful and make people feel upset and angry. young people shouldnt be made to feel like this.”Lyndsay, 15
“Every rose has it's thorns...as does the mosquito. It may get rid of bad kids, but what about us who've done no wrong? What about people over 18, who are legal adults and still suffer? Ban the Mosquito-Ban age discrimination. Emily, 15
“Us teenagers arent all bad, by using mosquito devices your treating us like pests! When most of us are nice warm harted people. With dreams that could change the society we live in!”Katlyn, 14
Over 200 people contacted the office via email or through the post with their thoughts and views on the campaign.
Online
Over 600 people signed up to a Facebook group online.
Over 600 people signed an online petition on the No.10 website.
The project team were able to map the locations of over 300 of the devices by collating information from the sources listed above.
Director’s of Children’s Services and local authorities
All directors of children’s services received letters about the campaign and were asked for their feedback on three questions.
1)Are the devices banned in your locality or do you have plans to ban the device locally?
2)Has your local authority has been working with children and young people to look at alternative solutions to solving anti-social behaviour? Or do you have plans to work with children and young people to look at alternative solutions to solving anti-social behaviour?
3)Do you know how many of these devices are installed in your locality?
Out of 150 authorities82 responded. Out of the 82 that responded 70 do not use them and ten have formally banned them. For more information, see annex 2
There are a number of other local authorities who are currently working with local youth councils to look at introducing a formal ban. The responses to the letter also highlighted some of the excellent ways in which local authorities are engaging with children and young people to explore more positive ways of tackling the problems of anti-social behaviour.
Parliamentary
All MPs and Peers received information about the campaign.
The use of the device was highlighted in the concluding observations of the UNCRC report on the state of children’s rights in the UK.
Young people from Corby met regularly throughout the year with PhilHope, their local MP.
13 parliamentarians requested further information about the campaign.
Participation
Eight young people from Corby Young People Friendly Neighbourhoods were involved with the project from the start. This core group were the driving force behind the campaign. Their work included:
- Finalising campaign key messages
- Designing the campaign logo and slogan
- Creating campaign badges, postcards and car stickers
- Acting as media spokespeople
- Acting as peer facilitators to inform other young people about their work
11 MILLION met with the group six times during the duration of the project, in a number of different locations. During September, the young people were given the opportunity to talk about their work with young people from Halton Youth Council.
The young people also independently continued their work on the project. They spoke at a number of events, including a Liberty conference and an event at LiverpoolUniversity, and were asked by Northamptonshire police to help provide training for new Police Community Support Officersin how to build better relationships with young people.
In June, one of the young people did work experience at 11 MILLION and The National Youth Agency, where they helped map the locations of the devices and worked on content for the BUZZ OFF pages on the 11 MILLION website.
Health and legal advice/issues
In the lead up to the launch of the campaign, advice was sought from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health about the possible medical implications on children and young people who have been exposed to the device. As there has been no medical research any possible effects exposure are unclear. Consequently it was agreed that the campaign team would not cite medical issues as a reason for wanting to ban the device.
The BUZZ OFF campaign was wholeheartedly supported by the National Autistic Society, their backing of the campaign received widespread media coverage.
Throughout the campaign,Liberty provided legal advice and support.
Private sector
The Co-op chain of supermarkets stopped using the devices outside its stores – citing the impact of the BUZZ OFF campaign as a contributing factor in this decision.
During June, Sir Al spoke at the Association of Convenience Store Owners Annual Crime Reduction Conference in Birmingham where he met the inventor of the mosquito device.
Sir Al also spoke at the Annual ACPO Youth Conference where we highlighted the issues surrounding mosquito devices.
Appendix 1
National Newspaper Coverage
The campaign was reported in the following daily national newspapers:
The Times
Daily Express
Mirror
Daily Mail
Daily Star
The Independent
The Daily Telegraph
The Guardian
It was also covered in the following the Sundays:
The Sunday Mirror
The Sunday Express
The Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Times
Regional Newspapers
There were over 500 mentions of the campaign in regional newspapers. It received extensive coverage in:
The Manchester Evening News
Leicester Mercury
The Express & Star Group (West Midlands)
Gloucester Citizen
Northern Echo
The Star (Sheffield)
Sunderland Echo
The Journal (Newcastle)
Yorkshire Post
The following map illustrates the spread of coverage with the blue dots indicate a local newspaper which covered the campaign
Broadcast
Members of the campaign team were interviewed on:
BBC Breakfast
BBC News 24
ITV News
Sky News Sunrise
Sky News
Channel 4 News
Newsround
BBC 1 O’clock News
BBC 6 O’clock News
Newsnight
Radio 4 Today Programme
Radio 5live Breakfast Show
Radio 1 Newsbeat
BBC World Service
BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Show
BBC Radio York
BBC Radio Tees
BBC Radio Wales
Ocean FM
Syndicated radio news which feeds into Classic FM, Capital and a broad range of regional commercial stations
The news story ran all day on BBC News 24 and Sky News.
Trade/Magazines
The campaign was also covered widely in the trade press and general news magazines. These included:
Convenience Store MagazineOff Licence News
Community Care
Nursery World
Children & Young People Now
Personnel Today
The Week
Regeneration & Renewal
Police Professional
Police Review
Business Zone
Tech.co.uk
Business Week
The Register
Environmental Data Interactive
New Statesman
Retail Newsagent
Talking Retail
Local Government Chronicle
Web coverage
The campaign was extensively covered on the BBC website, where an online debate invited over 6000 emails, Google news, where it was the top story, and other major websites including MSN and Yahoo. The campaign also initiated a number of blogs and opinions from internet users from around the world.
Online reporting included coverage on the following sites:
ITV.com
MSN.co.uk
BBC Online
Politics.co.uk
Tech.co.uk
Virgin Online
Tiscali Online
Reuters
PA
Associated Press
Google News
International coverage
The campaign was covered extensively around the world. Sir Al and Rob, the deputy commissioner, did interviews with various TV and radio stations from including from France, Finland, Australia and Canada.International press covering the story included:
Taipei Times
Boston Herald
Gulf Daily News
Seattle Times
San FranciscoChronicle
Denver Post
Houston Chronicle
ABC News (Australia)
Washington Post
CNN
USA Today
Los Angeles Times
The Canadian Press
Melbourne Herald Sun
CNBC Online
To see some of the coverage and some screen grabs from interviews please click here.
Appendix 2
Councils who have formally banned the mosquito
Cambridgeshire County CouncilDurham County Council
Kent County Council
Lancashire County Council
Leicester City Council
Leicestershire County Council
Medway Council
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Stockton on Tees Borough Council
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
Councils who do not use the mosquito
Barking & Dagenham London Borough
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Birmingham City Council
Blackpool Borough Council
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
BracknellForest Borough Council
Bromley London Borough Council
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council.
Coventry City Council
Darlington Borough Council
Devon County Council
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
East Riding of Yorkshire
EastSussexCounty Council
EnfieldLondon Borough
Gateshead Council
Halton Borough Council
Hammersmith & Fulham London Borough
Haringey London Borough
Harrow London Borough
Hartlepool Borough Council
Hertfordshire County Council
Islington London Borough
Kensington & Chelsea Royal Borough
Kingston Upon Thames Royal Borough
Kirklees Metropolitan Council
Luton Borough Council
Manchester City Council
Merton London Borough
NorthLincolnshireCounty Council
Northumberland County Council
Nottinghamshire County Council
Peterborough City Council
Poole Borough Council
Portsmouth City Council
Reading Borough Council
Redbridge London Borough
Rutland County Council
Salford City Council
Sandwell MBC
Shropshire County Council
Slough Borough Council
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
SomersetCounty Council
South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
Sunderland City Council
Sutton London Borough
Telford & Wrekin Council
Thurrock Borough Council
Torbay Council
WalthamForestLondon Borough
Wandsworth London Borough
Warrington Borough Council
Warwickshire County Council
West Berkshire Council
Westminster City Council
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Wolverhampton City Council
Worcestershire County Council
Councils who do use the mosquito
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Bradford MDC
Bristol City Council
Derby City Council
Essex County Council
Hillingdon Borough Council
Liverpool City Council
Plymouth City Council
Rochdale MBC
Stoke on TrentCity Council
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council