>> UNAWARDS 2023 - THE WINNERS

Our winners, highly commended and shortlisted entries for 2023 from a record-breaking 450 entries. Well done everyone.

1.     Best ethical comms behaviour/diversity

Winner

Brent Council  

“Highly creative and multi-faceted campaign based on deep audience insight with a focus on engaging seldom heard voices.  Collaboration and co creation built strong relationships that provided the grounding for the success of this climate change campaign and, no doubt, the success of future service delivery.”

Runner up

Companies House (The Power of We)

Shortlist

Affinity Trust

Companies House

Brent Council

Islington Council

Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance

 

2.     Best social media account

Winner

Manchester City Council social media accounts   

“Very through insight work, good objectives although could be smarter, good tactics and tracking throughout. Good to see a really through EDI approach.”

Highly commended

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust TikTok

Shortlisted

Colchester Council Facebook

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

North West Ambulance Facebook

Manchester City Council

Derbyshire Constabulary Tik Tok

Met Office TikTok

 

3.     Best crisis comms

Winner

Staffordshire County Council   

“Fantastic use of SMART objectives, data gathering through speaking with the target audience. Wonderful evaluation and a creative way to approach the subject of climate change – not an easy topic to control the narrative on as councils”

“Brilliant creative concept and some clear KPIs. The carbon bubble idea and the tour concept is just inspired. I also really like the buzz they created around the concept, raising awareness and lots of positive comments. Importantly, they have listened to what their residents have said and responded accordingly, which pretty much guaranteed them good hits, and excellent partnership working”

Shortlisted

Transport for Wales

Dorset Council/Dorset Local Resilience Forum

Essex Fire and Rescue Service

Staffordshire county Council

Brent Council

 

4.     Best small team

Winner – Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority     

"This small team managed a very high profile - and culturally significant event - with confidence, creativity and strategic vision. Congratulations on harnessing the media attention around the renaming of the national park and making this important event for Wales a standout success."

Highly Commended – South Yorkshire Pensions Authority

Shortlisted

North London Waste Authority

We are Staffordshire

Royal Free Charity

Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority

South Yorkshire Pensions Authority

 

5.     Best use of video

Winner

Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority    

“Really outstanding. Not every public sector comms team has access to a Hollywood A-Lister! But still amazing tenacity to secure them for it. Brilliantly shot, really confident, punchy narrative that was entertaining, inspiring, hard-hitting, and emotive. More public sector comms should have this confidence in its convictions, and the bravery to stand up to confected media backlash.  It brilliantly paints the picture of a better future within reach, which I think we could all do with right now”

Highly commended

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities      

Shortlisted

United Welsh

Liverpool City Council

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities      

Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority

Greater Manchester Combined Authority

 

6.     Best young communicator

Winner

Edward Parker Humphreys, Lewisham Council    

“An impressive understanding of insight, strategy and political acumen has helped Edward deliver an award winning campaign which has led to tangible results”

Highly commended

Carmen Proctor, Staffordshire County Council 

Shortlisted

Edward Parker Humphreys, Lewisham Council

Carmen Proctor, Staffordshire County Council

Poppy Matthews, Cheltenham Borough Council & Cheltenham Borough Homes

Lauren Hunt, Staffordshire County Council

Ellie Caddick, Greater Manchester Combined Authority

 

7.     Best use of research and evaluation

Winner

Companies House  

“Really clear objectives, research, evaluation and tangible outcomes all achieved on a modest budget. The results speak for themselves and demonstrate just how successful and highly effective the campaign has been. Most importantly, it has encouraged the previously hard to reach audience to apply for roles at Companies House. Brilliant”

Highly commended

NHS England

Shortlisted

Oxfordshire County Council

NHS England

Achieving for Children - Alive with Ideas

Companies House

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, Marketing and Communications Team

 

8.     Best work by an agency/freelancer

Winner

Magpie for Hertfordshire CC clean air campaign    

“A packed-full-of-great-practice campaign delivered in partnership to challenging deadlines on a subject that is at risk of message fatigue. This campaign used behavioural science throughout to bring relevance and resonance to great effect with brilliant targeting throughout”

“Text book behaviour change campaign – well executed”

Highly commended

  • Alive with Ideas for Achieving for Children

  • Grey Fox for NHS NW London Health and Social Care Academy

Shortlisted

Alive with Ideas for Affinity Trust brand creation

Hitch and EY3 for Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Grey Fox for NHS NW London Health and Social Care Academy

Magpie for Hertfordshire CC clean air campaign

Alive with Ideas for Achieving for Children

 

9.     Best use of data

Winner

Buckinghamshire Council - Helping Hand for the Cost of Living   

“Shelley has delivered a hugely impressive and efficient campaign, making full use of internal and external and in-house expertise. What really impresses is the way she personally embraced the power of data to deliver real-world results in an efficient way. Shelley has used data in a highly creative and innovative way, delivering a tangible benefit for some of Buckinghamshire’s most vulnerable residents”

Highly commended

Essex Fire and Rescue Service - Using data to increase volunteer applications

Shortlisted

Wigan Council PR Team - Here for You

Essex Fire and Rescue Service - Using data to increase volunteer applications

Buckinghamshire Council - Helping Hand for the Cost of Living

Greater Manchester Combined Authority - Helping Hands campaign

Hertfordshire County Council - Keep us Together, fostering siblings campaign

 

10. Best low cost/free comms

Joint Winners

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre

“Great use of media relations to sell a complex but important story with impressive results”

and

Wakefield Council  

“Wow, what a fabulous campaign. It had clear objectives and a strong plan which meant it hit all of the targets and then some. It was engaging and creative and a lovely idea. I was really pleased to see the link to wider objectives and the resilience and problem solving following the tree damage”

Highly commended

Liverpool City Council

Shortlisted

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre

Wakefield Council

Liverpool City Council

Police Scotland

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities      

 

11. Supporting health and wellbeing in communications

Winner

London Borough of Lewisham - Warm Welcomes: Community Living Rooms  

Shortlisted

Hertfordshire County Council  - Here for you this winter

London Borough of Lewisham - Warm Welcomes: Community Living Rooms

Greater Manchester Combined Authority/Hitch Marketing/EY3 Media - Violence Reduction Campaign - #IsThisOk?

Kensington and Chelsea Council, Westminster City Council, Young K&C - We got U, U Got this - Youth Mental Health Signposting

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Comms Team - The clock is ticking

 

12. Best internal comms

Winner

Hertfordshire County Council - Steps to a Cleaner, Greener, Healthier Team Walking Challenge   

“This campaign is an excellent example of how a simple and affordable idea can bring employees together, support a common goal, and help with broader sustainability efforts. All round, a deserving winner”

Highly commended

Buckinghamshire Council - Financial Wellbeing internal comms campaign

Shortlisted

Buckinghamshire Council - Financial Wellbeing - internal Comms Campaign

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Cost of Living Support for Staff

Corporate Communications team at Bosch UK - Bosch ‘125 Acts of Kindness’

The Royal College of Physicians: Spark - the intranet that brings people together

Hertfordshire County Council - Steps to a Cleaner, Greener, Healthier Team Walking Challenge

 

13.  Best social media campaign

Winner

London Borough of Tower Hamlets - #TowerHamletsMoments   

“We absolutely loved the clear social media focus and were really impressed with the amazing results achieved so far despite having little to no budget behind the campaign. We thought that this was a great lesson in how to embrace your community and what it has to offer, and how to instil pride in your local area while educating the general public in a fun and entertaining way”

Shortlisted

Hertfordshire County Council - Here for you this winter

Manchester City Council - Bringing the Buzz to Social Media

London Borough of Tower Hamlets - #TowerHamletsMoments

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities      

London Borough of Tower Hamlets - Anti-social Behaviour Awareness Week

 

14. Best comms pro

Winner

Lauren Hunt – Staffordshire County Council   

Shortlist

Polly Fisher - Hertfordshire County Council

Lauren Hunt – Staffordshire County Council

Dom Bowers – Essex Fire and Rescue Service

Scott Grant - Colchester City Council

Andrew Turton – West Midlands Combined Authority

Carrie-Ann Wade – Cat’s Pajamas

 

15.  Best collaboration

Winner

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities   


“The excellent collaboration between so many councils just goes to show what can be achieved through our industry working together to address common challenges”

Shortlisted

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities      

We Are Staffordshire - Staffordshire a place to thrive

Tower Hamlets – Cost of living

 

16. Best use of email

Winner

Basildon Borough Council – Garden Waste Subscription Service launch     

“This is an excellent example of using email to achieve a real-world objective. The campaign plan draws cleverly on scientifically proven methods of persuasion, combating negative PR with consensus and scarcity”

Highly commended 

  • Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council – Secondary School Admissions

  • Surrey County Council - Surrey Matters

Shortlisted

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council – Secondary School Admissions

North West Ambulance Service - Better Health, Better you

Surrey County Council - Surrey Matters

City of Doncaster Council  – Your life

Basildon Borough council – Garden Waste Subscription Service launch

 

17.   Best creative comms

Winner

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities         

“Exactly the kind of campaign the public sector needs right now. It combined precious resources in order to secure a better chance of success for everyone who collaborated and boosted by smart targeting and a beautifully shot video. Well done everyone”

Highly commended

Staffordshire County Council – Staffordshire’s carbon bubble

Shortlisted

Staffordshire County Council – Staffordshire’s carbon bubble

North London Waste Authority – Together we recycle

Rachel Brown, CAN Digital and 62 local authorities      

Tower Hamlets Council – Let’s rethink it

Affinity Trust – Together we make it possible

 

PUBLIC VOTE

18. Post of the year

Winner

Meg Rowley

‘What being on maternity leave has taught me about work'

Second place

Georgia Turner

'From data-aaaagh📈 to data-aaaah 💡'

Third place

Catherine Farrell

‘The pain of professional ghosting’

19. Best comms team

Winner

Wigan Council PR Team

Second place

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Digital Communications Team

Third place

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust Communications Team

 

20. Lifetime Achievement UnAward

Winner

Ruby Bhattal, Nottingham City Council

>> UNAWARDS22 WINNERS

1. Best social media account

Highly commended

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

Winner

South Wales Police

Judge’s quote

“This account is not only delivering complex messaging in the face of public scrutiny, it is constantly learning and evolving its content to give followers more of what they want to see – whilst also ensuring they are still delivering their content priorities and achieving its mission.

For a public sector channel to have gained more than 185,000 followers in just 10 months – all of which is organic growth – and having received more than 2.2 million total likes is an incredible achievement, and is very much deserving of this award.”

 

2. Best Comms Pro

Highly commended

Ella Hardy

Winner

Louisa Dean

Judge’s quote

“To have led comms for public mourning and the subsequent internment in the home town of arguably the most famous woman in the world, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is a phenomenal achievement. To have done so whilst holding down two Head of Communication roles for two separate councils, and all the pressures that come with that, makes Louisa nothing short of a super woman!

A huge volume of high-profile work completed in a momentous year, culminating in one of the global events of the decade. It’s very clear the winner is a true communications professional in the grand tradition combining calm, cool and competence to guide teams across two separate organisations through testing times.”

3. Best crisis comms

Highly commended

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Winner

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Judge’s quote

“This was a global event that had been planned for over many years. The benefits of the planning were clearly evident. The speed of the response was made possible by this planning. Co-ordinating such a large communication response was a huge challenge but was clearly achieved”

 

4. Best work by an agency/freelancer

Highly Commended

DigiKind for My Royal Borough

Thread & Fable for Awkward Moments

Winner

Hitch Marketing  for Make A Stand Against Violence

Judge’s quote

“I loved everything about this campaign – huge amount of creativity used. Brilliantly executed and excellent insight.”

5. Best social media campaign

Highly Commended

Buckinghamshire Council

Winner

City of London Police

Judge’s quote

“The judging team at Orlo absolutely loved this campaign and for us, it ticked all the boxes! We really liked how the team at the City of London Police researched different age groups to really understand their target audience, personalise the messaging and ensure the campaign was really targeted. And with some fantastic imagery to support the campaign, the results speak for themselves.”

6. Best low cost comms

Highly commended:

Sheffield City Council - Tek It ‘ome

Telford Council – Year of wellbeing 

Winner

Durham Constabulary – Look at what you’ve done

Judge’s quote

“A powerful, effective piece of comms work that shows just what can delivered through building relationships and working through challenges. Outstanding work.

A strikingly simple, powerful campaign, which was delivered with professionalism. The results speak for themselves, with a simply huge reach and clear impact. Well done for sticking with the idea when it looked difficult to deliver.”

 

7. Best small comms team

Highly commended

STEP comms team - Finding a home for the world's first fusion energy power plant

Comms Unplugged

Winner

Gedling Borough Council

Judge’s quote

“Excellent entry – epitome of small team doing big strategic thinking and things! Entry has flair, style and character showing the belief in what they’re doing.”

 

8. Best collaboration

Highly commended

Haringey Council

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

STEP Communications team

Rachel Brown

Winner

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead – London Bridge

 Judge’s quote

“This might be the most prepared for collaboration however, this won on overall execution and how the team reacted to the unanticipated, you had an exact mark and you hit it.”

 

9. Best use of research and evaluation

Winner

Dorset Council Visit Dorset - Promise to Love Dorset

Judge’s quote

“This is a deserved winner. The objectives were clear and concise and the research and evaluation ensured the campaign was a huge success. Great use of behavioural science and in-depth audience research to help influence the outcomes. Despite having a number of goals the campaign really delivered and saw remarkable and significant improvements in all the key campaign objectives. This campaign went well beyond “vanity metrics” and delivered real value to the taxpayer. Outstanding.”

10. Supporting health and wellbeing in communications

Winner

Hertfordshire County Council – Let’s win winter

Judge’s quote

“Really creative and some tremendous outcomes! Well done.”

11

Best creative comms

Highly commended

Blackburn with Darwen Council

Thread & Fable with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, NHS Lothian, NHS Lanarkshire

Winner

Scottish Water - Nature Calls

Judge’s quote

“A fabulously thorough behaviour change campaign – from SMART objectives to beautifully moving and memorable assets. Excellent scriptwriting, a sharp CTA and remarkable results. Awesome effort!”

 

12. Best young communicator

Shortlist

Highly commended

Lauren Tye, Telford & Wrekin Council

Winner

Jack Grasby, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

 Judge’s quote

“Jack has been instrumental in the delivery of many hugely effective campaigns as well as delivering huge increases in the service’s digital engagement. All of this has helped make SYFRS one of the most respected public service comms teams out there.”

 

13. Best internal communications

Shortlist

Highly commended

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust – Improving staff engagement, wellbeing and communications

Hertfordshire County Council - Disability at work

Winner

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Judge’s quote

“This was a well-researched, creative campaign, which used a wide variety of channels and had clearly been carefully planned to deliver a truly joined-up approach, which resulted in a cohesive cross-channel campaign reaching right through the organisation. The team considered numerous factors and made sure to deliver wide-ranging appeal and interest. The campaign started with internal comms but it also goes much wider, spilling out into supporting the local community – but still in a very joined-up and cohesive way. There was no part of this campaign that made us question why it was in there. We also like that the team engaged staff in actually creating the campaign – thereby really closing the loop.”

 

14. Best ethical comms behaviour/diversity

Highly commended

Thread and Fable

Staffordshire County Council

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

Bradford Council

Winner

Hertfordshire County Council

Judge’s quote

“This is a campaign underpinned by extensive, relevant insight and research and clear objectives.  It focuses on lived experience and using this to engage audiences that it might otherwise be missed.  Implementation was creative, tackling some of the difficult questions or issues that are often left unseen or unchallenged in the workplace. The entry demonstrated clear, measurable objectives that go beyond outputs and outtakes to measure shifts in behaviour. The use of colleagues to tell their stories to help others tell theirs was effective and impactful demonstrated by the measurement but also by the fact the videos were picked up by outside partners who promoted them and used them for their own campaigning.  It is credit that this was all delivered in house using the skills and time of the team.  Well done.”

 

15. Best use of email

Highly commended

Telford & Wrekin Council x 2

Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System

Bradford Council

Winner

Staffordshire County Council

Judge’s quote

“Outstanding piece of work on so many levels. Clearly showing the value of using email to support the most vulnerable in communities whilst taking a population approach at a key life stage. The planning and attention to detail is incredible, the creative, timeless and understanding of content resulted in an incredible campaign. Over 470 emails written! The planned drip approach that made use of email strategy to its fullest is inspiring. Use of videos, partners and brands is brilliant.  Thinking big really did lead to a big impact. Amazing work congratulations to the team.” 

 

16. Best use of video

Winner

Durham Constabulary

 Judge’s quote

“This was truly an incredible piece of video work - the subject was highly emotive yet the team delivered a phenomenal video seen by millions of people and all done with zero budget - incredible!”

>> PUBLIC VOTE CATEGORIES

17. Guest post of the year

Winner

Jude Tipper

18. Team of the year

Winner

Staffordshire County Council

19. Lifetime Achievement

Winner

Eddie Coates-Madden

🖤 Well done to everyone who won and was shortlisted and thanks to everyone who entered. Please come back and enter in 2023 🖤

>> UNAWARDS19 WINNERS

1. Best ethics and diversity

Northamptonshire County Council

“Good, practical activity delivering real results for real people in a realistic and understandable way”

 

2. Best Collaboration

Local Government Association

“An excellent example of mass collaboration to influence funding for public services”

 

3. Best Small Team

Talk, Listen Change Team

“Clear objectives, creative content and cross organisational engagement made this entry stand out.  The team were given a clear remit and they set out to demonstrate their approach and worth and gain the buy in of senior leaders and the wider organisation to support them in creation of a new brand and identity.   They used evaluation tools and techniques to ensure their output added real value to organisational aims”

 

4. Best Social Media Account

Doncaster Council

“Can’t fault this entry. The objectives were clear, the content superb, and detailed, measurable outcomes were outlined. The team sound very knowledgeable and creative - keep up the good work”

 

5. Best Use of Email

Kirklees Council

“This was a great email campaign that made a real difference to people’s lives - offering support and advice to help people stick to their New Year’s resolutions and in turn improve their health and well-being”

Highly Commended

Cardiff University

Bradford Council

 

6. Best Creative Comms

Winner

City of Wolverhampton Council

“This entry won the judges’ hearts with not only its creative approach to increasing uptake but also the impressive delivery of the messaging, with the results speaking for themselves”

Highly Commended

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

 

7. Best Internal Comms

Winner

Office of the Public Guardian – Together everyone achieves more

“A truly comprehensive campaign, addressing an important organisational need, with real focus on how to land the message with staff and achieve behaviour change”

Highly Commended

Sellafield Ltd

Staffordshire County Council

 

8. Best Young Communicator

Michael Reynolds

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

“Michael has delivered some great outcomes for his Trust, ranging from increasing take up of a staff flu vaccination programme to an award winning nursing recruitment campaign. His work has clear measurable objectives and the results have had a tangible impact, which means he is a worthy winner in a talented top five shortlist”

 

9. Best Use of Research and Evaluation

Winner

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

“Excellent outcomes on a very small budget. Great research, clear objectives, easy to measure and very clear outcomes. Incredible ROI. Excellent”

Highly Commended

South Lanarkshire Council Comms and Waste Teams

 

10. Best Use of Video

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

“This campaign was developed in direct response to resident feedback on what they want the council to prioritise.  All five objectives are SMART.  The approach is superb and innovative.  The creative use of video is brilliant.  The council could have chosen to publish pictures of littering offenders, but packaging the images into a narrated TV type production was a fantastic idea.  I love the voice-over and narrative.  The video is engaging and funny and has clearly resulted in some great outcomes.  Well done Barking and Dagenham”

 

11. Best Social Media Campaign

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

“A good mix of internal promotion of employee and departmental achievements, as well as promo to external audiences to raise awareness. An effective utilisation of media, tailored to different channels, including social media and YouTube”

 

12. Best Crisis Comms

Derbyshire Constabulary, Derbyshire County Council and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service

“A really humbling and impressive entry with outstanding results. Exceptional”

 

13. Best Comms/Digital Professional

Jude Tipper, NHS Digital

“Someone who has made an incredible difference and has set the gold standard for what NHS comms could and should be. Quite simply; a phenomenon”

 

14. Best Low Cost Comms

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority

“Really creative campaign using well researched insight and defined activity meeting clear measurable objectives. Using a sense of humour to be bold and cheeky by talking about ‘poo’ in a way that is engaging and relatable to open up conversation. A genuinely convincing low cost campaign that not only delivered but was planned to be fun to work on. The creativity was also evident in the entry. Odd how a sh#t campaign is the winner”

 

15. Best Work by an Agency/Freelancer

Amplia Group

“A truly integrated traditional and digital campaign which reflects today’s fragmented audience groups”

 

16. Supporting Health and Wellbeing

Network Rail

“Sitting in my lounge in floods of tears. Wow. What a simple yet HIGHLY effective approach to launching a highly important policy. It can be hard to drive people to HR policies, but this approach breaks the mould. Well done to Simone and my thoughts and love to John”

 

17. Best Guest Post 2019

Jude Tipper

 

18. Best Comms Team

Derbyshire Constabulary

 

19. Lifetime Achievement UnAward

Jo Bland

UNAWARDS18 >> THE WINNERS

 

Best Communications Officer

Albert Freeman, Bradford Council

 

Best Agency/Freelancer

Thread and Fable

(for ‘Women in Sport’ campaign)

 

Best Crisis Communications

Tower Hamlets Council

 

Best Use of Email

Highly commended - Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain

Winner - Bradford Council  

 

Best Young Communicator

Grace Fordham, Hertfordshire County Council

 

Best Collaboration

Northamptonshire County Council

 

Best Social Media Campaign

Derbyshire Constabulary

Best Social Media Account

Highly commended - Met Office and Doncaster Council

Winner - Worcester Acute Hospital NHS Trust

Best Use of Ethics and Diversity

Tower Hamlets Council

Best Small Communications Team

Highly commended - Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust

Winner - Comms Unplugged

Best Creative Communications

Highly commended - Comms Unplugged

Winner - South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Best Low Cost Communications

Loughborough University

Best Internal Communications

Loughborough University

Best Use of Video

Derbyshire Constabulary

Best Use of Research and Evaluation

Highly commended - Loughborough University

Winner - Cambridgeshire County Council

PUBLIC VOTE

Lifetime Achievement

Jayne Surman

 

Best Guest Post of 2018

Jude Tipper

 

Best Communications Team

Warwickshire County Council

Well done to all 70 shortlisted entries.

See you again in August for the launch of the #UnAwards19

UNAWARDS17  >>THE WINNERS

 

Best communications/digital professional   [JUDGED]

Melissa Thermidor, NHS Blood and Transplant

 

Best young communicator [JUDGED]

Sam Getliffe, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service

 

Best social media campaign [JUDGED]

NHS England South

 

Best social media account [JUDGED]

NHS Blood and Transplant

 

Best collaboration [JUDGED]

Loughborough University

 

Best ethical communications behaviour/diversity [JUDGED]

Joanna Goodwin and the Office of National Statistics (Digital publishing accessibility champions)

Highly commended - Melissa Thermidor and NHS Blood and Transplant

 

Best crisis/emergency comms [JUDGED]

Greater Manchester Police

 

Best internal communications [JUDGED]

QE Hospital Gateshead

 

Best creative communications [JUDGED]

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

 

Best use of research/evaluation [JUDGED]

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Highly commended - Nottinghamshire County Council

 

Best use of email [JUDGED]

Birmingham City Council

 

Best small communications team [JUDGED]

Selby District Council

Highly commended - Comms Unplugged (Sally Northeast & Georgia Turner)

 

Best low cost communications [JUDGED]

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

 

Best use of video [JUDGED]

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

 

Best work by an agency or freelancer [JUDGED]

Touch Design

 

Best communications team (PUBLIC VOTE)

Enfield Council

 

Best guest post (PUBLIC VOTE)

Lauren Kelly

 

Lifetime achievement [PUBLIC VOTE]

Jill Walden

 

Well done to all 70 shortlisted entries.

See you again in August for the launch of the #UnAwards18.

 

UNAWARDS16  >>THE WINNERS

1. BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

- NHS England - @NHS

2. BEST SMALL TEAM

JOINT WINNERS

- South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

- Brake

3. BEST CRISIS OR EMERGENCY COMMS WORK

- Selby District Council

4. BEST WORK BY AN AGENCY OR FREELANCER

- One Black Bear – Genomics campaign

5. BEST COMMS AND DIGITAL PROFESSIONAL

JOINT WINNERS

- Stephanie Collinson

- Daniel Cattanach

6. BEST CREATIVE COMMS

- Westminster City Council - SpeakSense

7. BEST USE OF EMAIL

HIGHLY COMMENDED

- Stafford College

- Redbridge Council

WINNER

- Central Bedfordshire Council

8. BEST LOW COST/FREE CAMPAIGN

- Hertfordshire County Council – Love your bump

9. BEST USE OF VIDEO

- Camden Council - Know you're not alone

10. BEST COLLABORATION

JOINT WINNERS

- Leeds Dying Matters Partnership

- Fife Council

11. BEST USE OF RESEARCH OR EVALUATION

- Northamptonshire County Council

12. BEST USE OF INTERNAL COMMS

- Brent Council – 12 days of Christmas

13. BEST YOUNG COMMUNICATOR (under 30)

- Jack Bowers

14. BEST SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT

- London Ambulance Service - Twitter

15. BEST ETHICAL COMMS BEHAVIOUR/DIVERSITY (sponsored by the NUJ PRCC)

- Sarah Stimson for Taylor Bennett Foundation PR Traineeship Programme

and decided by you via a public vote…

16. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT UNAWARD

- Phil Jewitt

17. BEST COMMS TEAM

- TransPennine Express Trains

18. BEST GUEST POST OF 2016

- Emma Rodgers

Well done to all of our 77 shortlisted entries.

 

THE WINNERS >> 2015

BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA *WINNER*

London Fire Brigade for 50 Shades of Red

Our judges said…

“A bold, creative, witty and highly effective social media campaign which achieved impressive results. Great use of images, and sense of humour, to attract attention and drive an important messages home.”

“Outstanding campaign stemming from a simple yet incredibly engaging idea, which ran and ran.

Popular because it was creative yet timely. This secured an incredible amount of additional coverage which led to the overall campaign objectives easily being secured. Exactly what a social media campaign should look like. I was very impressed by this.”

Judges special merit - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust


BEST SMALL COMMS TEAM *WINNER*

Queen Elizabeth Gateshead

Our judges said:

“Outstanding performance from a small team. Clear objectives were consistently delivered and exceeded. Continue to push the envelope and look at new communications solutions embracing new and old media.”

“A very impressive team built on solid, strategic, foundations and delivering excellent results across the board.”


BEST USE OF EVALUATION OR RESEARCH *WINNER*

Lambeth Council

“An ambitious, well researched and ultimately incredibly successful campaign that exceeded all expectations.”

“A powerful campaign that worked. Impressive to see how a thorough and in-depth suite of research was used to deliver a campaign that was effective and hard hitting, yet didn’t feel stereotyped.

The results show the validity of the planning and ultimate execution.”

Judge's special merit - FirePro


BEST WORK BY AGENCY/FREELANCER *WINNER*

Shadow Giants // #GoBritain

Judge's special merit - Touch Design // Love our learner


BEST CRISIS OR EMERGENCY COMMS WORK *WINNER*

Sheffield City Council

Judge’s special merit - Brent Council & Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue


BEST COMMS/DIGITAL PROFESSIONAL *WINNER*

Tom Stirling, North Yorkshire Police

Our judges said:

“A great example of how an inspirational professional can take an organisation from nowhere to the cutting edge of operations and research.”


BEST CREATIVE COMMS *WINNER*

Leeds City Council

Our judges said:

“Fab storytelling. Loved the use of real-life personal stories to capture imagination and very impressive social media stats. All achieved within an impressively low budget. Longevity, big potential to carry on and develop the campaign further.”

Judge’s special merit - Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Gedling Borough Council & Podnosh

 

BEST USE OF EMAIL *WINNER*

Sheffield City Council

Our judges said:

“Clear objective with a targeted audience, achieving a specific goal and a good outcome especially given the small budget.  Fantastic improvement on previous years with many more subscribers and significant number of measurable registrations. Value to the public and the council was significant.”

 

BEST LOW COST/FREE COMMS *WINNER*

 

Westminster City Council

Our judges said:

“Brilliant – Extremely well thought out and delivered campaign. Fabulous result. This is how local government comms should be done.”

Judge's special merit - Hertfordshire County Council – Scam awareness

 

BEST USE OF VIDEO *WINNER*

Sheffield City Council

Our judge said:

“An immensely watchable film with a frenetic pace and narrative thread that is particularly well crafted from contributed material. The linkages from high-dive to river swimming and campfire to heavy industry for example demonstrate craft and direction that allow the film to flow naturally and unaided.

The range of slow motion, underwater, aerial, time-lapse, handheld, point of view and everything else in between mean that the film is likely to have something for everyone and echoes the positive and inclusive portrayal of Sheffield. The nature of the gathered footage only adds to this perception of inclusivity and shared experience which perfectly exemplify the message of the film.

Above all else the film feels both inviting, honest and genuine - the latter being one of the most difficult storytelling perspectives to achieve in a piece where the primary focus is on promotion. Excellent filmmaking both technically and conceptually.”

 

BEST INTERNAL COMMS *WINNER*

Staffordshire County Council

Our judges said:

“A target busting campaign! An excellent example of how combining channels and honing focus produces results. Refreshing to see an action plan embedded with an employee survey. Well done.”

 

BEST COLLABORATION *WINNERS*

NHS Coventry & Rugby CCG

“This is a tough area to tackle that others are grabbling with up and down the country. It’s great to see such a worthwhile and collaborative approach adopted across so many partners.”

Futures Housing Group

“I really liked the creativity and integration across this campaign. It was well considered, well executed and to have fully co-ordinated this approach across so many partners shows public sector collaboration at its finest."

 

BEST COMMUNICATIONS TEAM [PUBLIC VOTE] *WINNER*

North Yorkshire Police


BEST GUEST POST ON COMMS2POINT0 [PUBLIC VOTE] *WINNER*

Emma Rodgers for Comms Room 101


LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD [PUBLIC VOTE] *WINNER*

Sarah Lay