More than 170 charity communication professionals gathered on the evening of Wednesday 28 February to find out who won our Inspiring Communicator Awards 2023. This was a very special night, as it was both our first, large-scale, in-person member event since the pandemic and the 10th anniversary of the awards themselves.
The night was electric: the buzz of networking, anticipation and celebration filled the venue. People connected with new acquaintances and old friends, joining together in recognition of impactful charity communications and inspiring peers.
30 judges had a hard time whittling hundreds of outstanding nominations down to our shortlists and winners in the 10 categories.
We want to thank everyone who was involved in this year’s awards and who made it an exceptional experience: from sharing our news, making their nominations, to our diligent judges and everyone who attended the ceremony to celebrate.
Words from the Inspiring Communicator Awards 2023 winners
Some of our winners share a few words to encapsulate what these awards mean to them and more about their work.
Accessible Comms Award – Social Media Team, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
“The Accessible Comms Award embodies everything our team stands for, because we’re here to make social media more accessible – one post at a time. Every single member of the team is dedicated to accessibility and has a lot of fun making the internet a more inclusive place, so it really means a lot to have our hard work recognised and celebrated.”
Best Collaboration (agency and charity) – Breaking Barriers and Postcard Productions
“Both Breaking Barriers and Postcard Productions had to put a lot of trust in each other for this project to work; making a real-time documentary was a leap of faith and we had no idea what would happen when the cameras started to roll. Winning this award is particularly meaningful for us because it recognised how we made the film ‘My (Refugee) Life’ with a trainee crew of people from a refugee background who were involved at each stage of production. We dedicate this award to the trainees, and to the refugees who starred in the film – without them it wouldn’t have been possible.”
Best Collaboration (freelancer and charity) – Unlimit Health and Nuits Balnéaires
“Our She is Seen campaign was committed to inspiring change through truthful storytelling, ensuring the women whose lives are affected, held the narrative. But with sensitivities around this health condition, no woman shared their account, which spoke volumes and we needed to honour that. Co-creating with the talented Nuits Balnéaires and his team meant that multiple perspectives were explored, cultural differences were absent, and shared experiences were brought together in a beautifully moving visual, reinforcing why we work with creatives across the continent.”
Anna Georgeson, Associate Communications Advisor, Unlimit Health
“Through this enlightening experience, it was important for us to treat this sensitive subject with a great deal of respect, dignity, and kindness. The various trips I have made to the west of Côte d’Ivoire have enabled me to see the reality of this health condition and the importance of the actions carried out by Unlimit Health. I’m honoured to see this collaboration rewarded, and I hope it will inspire more institutions to choose the continent’s talents to inform the world about their context.”
Nuits Balnéaires
Best In-house Campaign – Communications Team, Bone Cancer Research Trust
“We are so proud to receive this award for our 2023 Bone Cancer Awareness Week campaign. We launched Bone Cancer Awareness Week in 2008 and whilst the campaign continues to grow year-on-year thanks to our passionate and dedicated team, its true success is down to the bone cancer community for being as determined as we are to raise life-saving awareness — which is why we dedicate this award to them. With our community’s continued help, we can ensure that more patients survive and thrive beyond their diagnosis and limit the devastating impact this disease has on lives around the world.”
Comms Changemaker of the Year – Tara Carey, Global Head of Media at Equality Now
“I am deeply honored to have received the 2023 Comms Changemaker of the Year award from CharityComms, and I owe a huge thanks to the collective efforts of the Equality Now team and our partners in civil society and the media.
“Effective communication is crucial for challenging harmful norms, driving social change, and amplifying those who are marginalised and silenced. Strategic messaging and compelling storytelling enable us to raise awareness, advocate for systemic reforms, and hold duty-bearers to account. I am immensely grateful to have the opportunity to apply my skills and experience to this vital and rewarding work.”
Inclusive Comms Award – Communications Team, The Prince’s Trust
“We’re made up to have won the Inclusive Comms award! As a team, we want all our audiences to see themselves reflected in our comms and this idea underpins everything we do. We know that when we get this right, we can help more people to feel a positive connection with our charity and be inspired to get involved.
“We’re all really proud that our recent work has helped The Trust to shift the dial towards becoming one of the most equal, diverse and inclusive organisations serving young people and look forward to building on what we’ve learned so far.”
Innovation Award – Save Our Wild Isles partnership
“Saving Our Wild Isles is an unprecedented partnership between WWF, the RSPB and the National Trust: three of Britain’s most loved charities uniting to bring people closer to nature. The communications teams of the three organisations worked together as one team to deliver an innovative collaboration which drew on the strengths of each charity to inspire new audiences to care about and protect nature here in the UK.”
Save Our Wild Isles partnership – World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the National Trust
Rising Star – Kelly Taylor, Senior Campaigns Officer at Kinship
“The CharityComms awards are an amazing way to celebrate all of our hard work, commitment and dedication to our causes. I am over the moon to have won the Rising Star award, not only for me but for all the kinship carers across the country who have worked so tirelessly to be seen and heard as part of the #ValueOurLove campaign. It feels amazing to be recognised for my efforts and to see the awareness continue to grow.”
Strategic Leader of the Year – Victoria Beevers, CEO of The Sleep Charity
“Winning an award for the CharityComms Inspiring Communicators Awards is a real honour. I know how hard individuals are working in the voluntary sector right now; our work has never been more needed and yet so poorly resourced. To have an evening when our hard work was recognised and celebrated is priceless.
I’m particularly delighted to have won the Strategic Leader of the Year award as Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis have certainly put my strategic management skills to the test. A good strategic leader, however, is always backed by a supportive board and team of staff/ volunteers. I’m privileged to lead a fantastic team, so this award must also go to each and every one of them.”
Team of the Year – Communications Team, Child Bereavement UK
“We’re honoured to be recognised for our work putting the voices of bereaved children, young people, parents/carers and families at the heart of everything we do. All the content we produce, from animated films for bereaved children through to translated resources for refugees, are designed to work towards our vision for all families to have access to the support they need when a child grieves or when a child dies. We are immensely grateful to CharityComms for the recognition these awards bring to all the hardworking Comms teams out there and the wonderful work that goes on in the sector.”
For more information about our winners, head over to our Inspiring Communicator Awards webpage. Don’t forget to share this news far and wide to show the impact of #InspiringComms.