NHS Arden & GEM CSU’s Engagement, Communications and Marketing team has won ‘silver’ at a prestigious regional PR award ceremony, for a campaign to raise awareness of modern slavery in the West Midlands.
The PRide Awards, run by the Chartered Institute for Public Relations (CIPR), are the leading regional PR awards, recognising outstanding work delivered for clients and employers across the UK. Arden & GEM was recognised, in partnership with West Midlands Police, in the Midlands ‘Public sector campaign’ category.
There are an estimated 13,000 people living in the UK as slaves. Birmingham alone has seen a 100% increase in recorded instances of modern slavery in the past year, yet despite the increase in reporting, many of the offences that occur in communities still go unreported with the public not recognising the various signs of trafficking.
To raise awareness of the prevalence of modern slavery in the West Midlands, and the devastating effects it can have on health, Arden & GEM brought together key agencies and organisations – including the NHS, West Midlands Police, Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Anti Slavery Network – as part of a hard-hitting campaign.
By designing a campaign that grabbed the public’s attention, launched by a live performance in Birmingham City Centre, extensive media coverage was achieved reaching more than 3 million people and resulting in a 30% rise in contacts to the Modern Slavery Helpline. Read more about the campaign in our case study.
Commenting on the silver win, Linette D’Silva, senior social marketing manager at Arden & GEM and campaign lead said:
“We are absolutely delighted that such a hugely important campaign has been recognised in this way. By establishing strong, positive working relationships between health, police and key third sector agencies, we have been able to find innovative and impactful ways of raising public awareness of modern slavery leading to reporting and intelligence that has helped victims be identified and perpetrators brought to justice.”
The CIPR Midlands PRide Awards winners were announced at a ceremony in Birmingham on Friday 27 September 2019. View the full results here.