Case studies

The 22 May 2018 marked one year on from the devastating Manchester Arena bombing which killed 22 people and changed countless lives, and the city, forever. Jen Green, director of strategic communications at Manchester City Council, reflects on how Manchester came together to remember those tragic events and honour the city’s powerful community spirit. The Manchester Together memorial programme was awarded a bronze award at the 2018 public service communications excellence awards.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service wanted to challenge the view that firefighting is a male-orientated role and attract more women to apply to the service. Corporate communications manager Alex Mills tells us how they enlisted the help of serving firefighters’ children to create a social media recruitment campaign which delivered results and secured them a 2018 public service communications excellence silver award.

Mental health problems can impact anybody at any stage of their life. Many people are scared to open up about mental health issues but Hertfordshire Council and partner agencies from across the county made it their mission to help change this. They wanted to raise awareness and normalise speaking out about mental health, particularly among boys and young men. Jen Beer, children and young people’s health improvement lead for public health at Hertfordshire County Council, tells us how their campaign to get people to ‘Just Talk’ won a bronze public service communications excellence award.

Earlier this year, Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games handover and homecoming celebrations gave the world a glimpse of to expect from the city when it hosts the event in 2022. Eleri Roberts, Birmingham City Council’s assistant director of communications, explains how with just four weeks’ notice, the council and its partners engaged residents in Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games story and launched the city onto a global, live stage. Birmingham City Council was awarded a bronze award for this work at the 2018 public service communications excellence awards.

When Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced the opportunity for London boroughs to compete for £1.35m of funding and the prize to be named the very first London Borough of Culture, Waltham Forest had their sights set on success. Lorna Lee, Director of London Borough of Culture 2019, explains how extensive digital campaigning and community engagement won them the title and a gold public service communications award.

An example offers an inclusive approach to communications, which centres around building trust and seeking to ensure all community members are informed.

When Essex County Council needed to rebrand its community transport service and recruit drivers, it used the power of authentic storytelling and user insight to deliver a small campaign with a big impact on people’s lives. The Ugobus – more than just a journey rebrand and recruitment campaign was awarded a bronze at the 2019 Public Service Communications Excellence Awards.

Hertfordshire County Council’s powerful scam prevention campaign used a single story to highlight a common problem. Their campaign was awarded a bronze award at the 2019 Public Service Communications Excellence Awards.

This short case study outlines how the council has combined excellent internal communications with a strong health and wellbeing offer to create an environment where people feel better able to manage their mental health.

Audience analysis has helped Westminster Council to raise £900,000 for vulnerable residents through the Community Contribution campaign.