Beacon of Hope Lighthouse

Since the onset of the Russian invasion, nearly one third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes, with millions crossing into neighbouring countries as refugees and many more displaced within the country.

The team at Donation.Tech partnered with the UN Ukrainian Refugee Appeal charity to make a contactless donation installation to raise awareness of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. We wanted the installation to also become a visual icon for people to show their support to the cause.

The concept was to build ‘The Beacon of Hope’, an 8ft lighthouse structure, painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. To do this we designed a custom LED array that fitted in the structure, worked like a lighthouse, and could be controlled to fit the purpose.

In an idle state the ‘The Beacon of Hope’ light glows to draw attention. When a person comes within range of the ‘The Beacon of Hope’ the infra-red sensor detects and plays a trigger call-to-action audio sample in Ukrainian and English to encourage a donation.

Following a successful donation, the main light is triggered to rotate like a lighthouse and a thank you message is played in both languages to show appreciation.

Donations are helping get supplies out to the people who need them most. They also help UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to provide small emergency grants for the most vulnerable displaced people, enabling refugees to buy the essentials they need in an effective and dignified way.

As well as triggering donations, due to the visual physical impact of the structure, we have seen people showing their support for the charity by having selfies and group selfies standing next to ‘The Beacon of Hope’ to share on social media.