We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that made this year’s awards a success! We received a variety of fantastic nominations, and are pleased to have seen such amazing campaigns and efforts this year across PR, Comms and Media in the area.
The competition in the categories this year was huge, but the judges decided on their winners and highly commended. Here is the full list:
Internal Communications Campaign of the Year
Highly Commended – Peterborough City Council – Budget Challenge 2020 campaign – No Stone Unturned
Launched in April 2019, this campaign was in response to funding reductions and rising demand for services in the past decade, as in 2020/21 the council faces its toughest challenge yet in delivering a balanced budget. Over 100 suggestions were received from staff about ways the council could save money and a number of these have been included in the budget proposals.
WINNER – Speed & North West Anglia Hospitals Trust – Good to Outstanding campaign
Speed worked with North West Anglia Hospitals Trust to develop a campaign that re-engaged NHS staff at all levels, aligned with NHS values, communicated how the hospital was going to improve, and motivated people to believe in it and take part.
Communicator of the Year
Highly Commended – Shelley Cash, The Creative Marketing Studio
Shelley has successfully delivered numerous campaigns and projects across the city and wider over the past 10 years including the launch of CityFibre’s Peterborough CORE in 2015 and the Peterborough 900 campaign in 2018. She is currently working on a fundraising campaign to enter The Mongol Rally 2020 to raise money for 4Louis and has already secured support from many local businesses.
JOINT WINNER – Karen Cornish, Peterborough City Council
Karen has worked in Peterborough City Council’s communications team since 1996. During this time she has fulfilled roles in PR, internal communications and more recently marketing. This year Karen has created from scratch the successful Safer off the Streets homelessness campaign – and launched the council’s new limited company, Aragon Direct Services, which took over the Amey contract.
JOINT WINNER – Susan Broccoli, We Love Peterborough
We Love Peterborough is the brainchild of Susan Broccoli and has grown and developed hugely over the past two years to be the complete compendium of information for thousands of us in Peterborough. Susan takes all the photographs for the website and social media pages, and edits all the content, imagery, reviews and events.
Journalist of the Year
Joint Highly Commended – Fiona Leishman, Cambridgeshire Live
Fiona joined Cambridgeshire Live in December 2018 and was tasked with improving the site’s Peterborough coverage. She produces content that not only engages with the people of the city, but draws on her own experiences of growing up here, and showcases the city’s positives. In the space of less than a year the strength of Peterborough coverage as measured by page views has quintupled.
Joint Highly Commended – Stephen Briggs, Peterborough Telegraph
Stephen helps to run the news desk as well as focusing on his specialism of court reporting. Stephen has worked at the Peterborough Telegraph for over ten years, covering everything from murder trials, to milestone Peterborough events, to community-based campaigns, and his knowledge of the local area and what makes it tick is second to none.
WINNER – Toby Venables, The Moment Magazine
The Moment has already invested more than £1.3 million in Peterborough, through high-quality, intelligent, finger-on-the-pulse content that reaches all corners of our city. Through Toby’s role as Editor and Lead Features Writer, The Moment has helped to shape the conversation and is a major part of showcasing the truly inspirational people and work going on in Peterborough.
Community Contribution of the Year
Joint Highly Commended – Hazel Cottrell, Creative Content Company
Hazel volunteers with Light Project Peterborough and The Winter Night Shelter, acting as shift leader, covering shifts and being on call throughout the project. She is also on the steering committee and uses her stance as a business owner to encourage other people in business to get involved, volunteer, and donate their time or money.
Joint Highly Commended – Vivacity – Health and Wellbeing campaign
Vivacity’s Health and Wellbeing programme helps people suffering with health conditions such as cancer or cardiac issues, providing specialist classes that help with rehabilitation and enabling participants to have a better quality of life, as well as providing an all-important source of peer support from people in similar situations. To date this calendar year, over 3,000 people have participated in the programme.
WINNER – Susan Broccoli, We Love Peterborough
Not only is Susan the brainchild behind We Love Peterborough, the website and Facebook page which aims to show all the positives about Peterborough and fantastic things going on in the city, she also works closely with small businesses, inspiring and supporting them through difficult times.
Communications Team of the Year
Highly Commended – Peterborough City Council
Over the past year, the Peterborough City Council comms team has faced unprecedented pressure caused by four high profile elections, rising homelessness numbers in the city and the communication to residents of some of the toughest budget decisions the council has ever faced. Despite all this, the team has run 12 city events, handled 850 media enquiries from local and national media, and launched a new website and intranet.
WINNER – Longhurst Group
As Longhurst Group consolidated from four member companies into a single organisation, the team of nine provided clear, transparent and reassuring messaging to customers and colleagues, refreshed the brand and launched an improved website. This year they have also achieved record breaking marketing results, unprecedented press coverage and have revolutionised internal communications in the organisation.
Communications Campaign of the Year
Highly Commended – Peterborough Presents & We Love Peterborough – #1000 Moments
#1000 moments was designed to inspire Peterborough residents to talk positively about the city by sharing their favourite memories of living and working in Peterborough. The campaign has successfully reached over 160,000 people through platforms including a Gameshow, film and advocacy campaign.
WINNER – PECT – Cool Food Challenge
Cool Food tackles climate change by encouraging people to make small changes to their diet and food shopping habits. Launched at the start of November, in its first few weeks the campaign achieved a community of 350 people who’ve pledged to save over the course of the year more than £170,000 and around 220 tonnes of carbon.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Nigel Hards
Nigel has held key roles with major organisations in Peterborough since he moved here in 1978 as part of the management team that opened Barclays Bank International in Midgate House. In 1979 he joined Thomas Cook where he remained for 20 years in a number of roles, ultimately becoming CEO.
He is also a former Chairman of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; you may have seen him in our timeline video tonight welcoming Prince William and Kate Middleton when they opened the new City Hospital in November 2010.
These days, Nigel runs his own consultancy and is the Chairman of Athene Communications.