Jersey creative agency Freedom Media, in partnership with the Government of Jersey and J3, has won an award at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations South of England and Channel Islands PRide Awards for the work communicating the build of the Jersey General Hospital Nightingale Wing.
The industry awards seek to recognise the best PR and communications professionals across the UK and are judged by a panel of highly respected industry experts. The awards aim to celebrate the very best public relations campaigns, teams and individuals from across the region. The virtual ceremony took place on Wednesday 6th October and awarded the project the Gold Winner for the Best Covid Response.
The Best Covid Response Award acknowledged the efforts of the collaboration of the team that captured and communicated the significant moments onsite of the Nightingale Wing, to keep the public informed about the project. Freedom Media, the Government and J3 beat five other finalists in what was the most highly contested category.
The Jersey Nightingale Wing, a temporary facility that opened in May 2020, provided additional capacity to alleviate pressure on the Jersey General Hospital for patients with Covid-19. It was acknowledged by the Government of Jersey as its most significant community project since the end of the 2nd World War Occupation in 1945, and it provided the Island with a vital asset in the strategy to fight Covid-19. The project saw a field being turned into a 180 bed fully functioning hospital in just 25 days, with no pre-existing infrastructure in place. 541 people and 83 local businesses worked a 24/7 operation for the project to succeed.
Freedom Media’s Creative Director, Hannah Shellswell, said: “We are extremely proud to have won this award. As it was a regional award, we were up against some very strong competition. Winning is a testament to the hard work, dedication and talent shown by the team from Freedom Media, the Government of Jersey and J3. It brings the total of national and regional awards that Freedom Media have won for our work to four in the past two years.”
Marc Burton, Executive Director for J3 and the Garenne Group said: “Engaging Freedom Media was one of the first calls we made as we recognised the importance of recording and communicating this unique project to the island community. The project was a true collaboration between 83 local businesses providing a broad range of services that, together with the Government, came together to deliver the one shared common objective, to build a fully functional 180 bed Nightingale hospital for operation by Tuesday 4th May 2020. Truly remarkable.”
Andy Scate, Director General of Infrastructure, Housing and Environment said: “We are immensely proud to be part of the team who have won this award. Those were unprecedented times and the way we communicated to the public and our wider stakeholders was vitally important to the COVID response. This CIPR award is a reflection on the dedication of all of those involved.”
The project has now been decommissioned and The Nightingale Wing has been taken down.
