Alzheimers Society and Tesco have launched a Halloween-themed SMS donation campaign to raise funds to help the fight against dementia.

Consumers are being urged to get and text the word SCARY to the shortcode, 70444. In return they may receive a spooky Halloween trick-or-treat text message back.

Treats include handy hints and tips on how to make your own Halloween costumes and recipe ideas for spooky party food. Tricks include cheesy jokes and riddles.

Texts cost £1.50 plus the network charge. The money will be donated to Alzheimers Society, with 10 per cent going to Alzheimer Scotland, which are Tesco’s Charity of the Year. The campaign aims to raise £5m.

“As a charity we’ve used text donate before; but we’ve never used it in such an innovative way,” says Tom Hubbard-Green, eMarketing and social media manager at Alzheimers Society. “The campaign is themed around Halloween and uses a special platform which lets us send randomized bounce-back messages to our supporters featuring a trick or a treat. This type of text donate campaign is a first for Alzheimers Society and we hope it will be attractive to those wanting to donate to a charity, but (who) don’t have the time to spare to organise a fundraising activity.”

The money raised from the campaign will fund new research; dementia support professionals to help those living with the condition; and a Dementia Community Roadshow, which is travelling around UK Tesco stores raising awareness of dementia, and encouraging people worried about their memory to visit their GPs.
The text to donate campaign, which will launch on Friday 7 October, will run throughout October, including Halloween on Monday October 31st.

There’s more information about the partnership between Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer Scotland and Tesco here.