by Halyna Soltys | 3rd Apr 2023

TheSprout, an online information and blogging platform for young people managed by ProMo-Cymru, co-produced a sexual health campaign with the support of YMCA Cardiff’s Sexual Health Outreach Team (SHOT): Healthy Relationships Service.

In November 2022, we launched the two-week Frisky Not Risky campaign on TheSprout’s website and social media channels. TheSprout supports and engages young people to share their experiences, have their voices heard and upskill in campaign creation. We also work closely with local organisations and services that support young people.

About the campaign

Working closely with staff from SHOT, we created a questionnaire to share with young people involved in their service. The questionnaire aimed to gather their thoughts, feelings, and experiences of accessing support for their relationships and sexual health through the SHOT service.

With support from their Sexual Health Worker, ten young people completed the questionnaire, which formed the basis of the content for the Frisky Not Risky campaign. Content included:

– 11 bilingual website blogs
– Social media promotion across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
– 16 TikTok videos (also shared to Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts)

Campaign Outcomes

As a result of the Frisky Not Risky campaign, TheSprout’s Sexual Health information page became our most viewed information page for the quarter. Throughout the campaign, we had over 4,000 web visits.

Social media was also hugely successful. We reached over 44,000 people across Instagram and Facebook in November alone. Meanwhile, on Twitter, 48 tweets gained 7,029 impressions.

Additionally, one TikTok video, which explained the difference between internal and external condoms, went viral. At the time of writing, the video has reached: 

– 545.8K views
– 23.4K likes
– 82 comments 
– 1750 favourites
– 2651 shares

This organic engagement shows that the audience responded positively to the content.  

Some comments left in response to our social media posts included questions asking for clarification on using condoms. One user asked, “What if I use both (condoms)?” This allowed us to respond and further educate and engage with the audience.

There were also questions that may not be so typical regarding sexual health and relationship education and support. One asked, “By wearing a condom, can the female lose her virginity?? Does the condom break the virginity?” Responding to this allowed us to gently explore societal, traditional, and patriarchal notions of sex informally with the audience, informed by experts from the SHOT team. 

Feedback about working with ProMo

Amy Stuart-Torrie, a Sexual Health Outreach Worker from YMCA Cardiff, shared her thanks and feedback on the campaign: “I would like to say a huge thank you and well done to all involved. The Frisky Not Risky campaign was completely fantastic. I was blown away by the campaign, the posts, the design, the content and the links to further information.”

Amy continues, “The TikTok videos were so informative and again so relatable, inclusive, and young-person friendly! Reaching so many people and providing correct, up-to-date information is so important. You really made so much great content.”

Another staff member at YMCA Cardiff, Amanda Thomas, explained that the content “was accessible and inclusive and has not only raised awareness of the work of the YMCA Cardiff SHOT team but also provided incredibly informative content around sexual health and relationships for young people”. 

She continues, “The engagement demonstrates how valuable it is to have up-to-date, relevant, accessible and inclusive information available – it empowers young people to be able to make informed choices.”

“Working with ProMo was great from the off-set,” added Amy.

“I was so impressed with the campaign. The social media posts were so informative and fun and extremely young-person-friendly!”

Amanda echoed, “It has been an absolute pleasure doing this campaign with you! So many young people would have benefitted from this fun and informative campaign. Topics discussed can sometimes cause embarrassment, but the campaign made the topics ‘normal’ as it should be! Thank you!”

This campaign was funded by Cardiff Family First. 

If you’re interested in working with TheSprout or enabling young people to have a voice, contact Andrew at andrew@promo.cymru.