Lincolnshire-based agency Shooting Star took home the award for Best Charity/Not-for-profit Campaign at the 2023 UK Digital Excellence Awards last week (Thursday 19^th January). 

The award-winning Lighten the Load campaign with client Carers First highlighted the plight of tens of thousands of unpaid carers in Lincolnshire, Waltham Forest, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, Haringey, Newham, Hackney and Medway affected by the cost-of-living crisis. 

Celebrity influencers were involved in spreading awareness of the campaign. Broadcaster Kate Garraway spoke openly about her experience being a carer for her husband Derek, which attracted thousands of views.  

Channel 4 daytime chat show Steph’s Packed Lunch also picked up the story, resulting in a significant increase in carer registrations and traffic to the Carers First website. 

As a result of the campaign, Carers First reported that online carer registrations went up 8% month on month and were 92% higher compared to October 2021. The charity had 1,500 carers contact its helpline to enquire about financial support in October.  

Shooting Star Director Jez Ashberry said: “It was a privilege to work on the Lighten the Load campaign with Carers First, who do a fantastic job supporting hundreds of unpaid carers up and down the country. 

“The campaign had a very tight budget but we were delighted with the outcomes, and we look forward to working with Carers First again very soon.” 

The website received 22,700 visits in October, which was a 10.5% increase on the previous month; this was driven by the Lighten the Load campaign which was the fourth most visited web page.  

Lighten the Load content also reached over 125,000 people on its collective social media with over 12,000 engagements throughout the course of the campaign.  

Over the course of the campaign, media mentions of Carers First including in radio ads, the Channel 4 TV appearance and print and digital news articles, resulted in an estimated 35,193,038 opportunities to see – a significant amount of exposure for a small regional charity.  

Sarah Lane, Head of Communications at Carers First, said: “The team at Shooting Star were able to work with us and develop a plan that suited our needs and requests to help us promote our new campaign to reach and support more unpaid carers. 

“Their tailored proposal enabled us to achieve the specific results we hoped for. We were delighted with how they were able to secure support from celebrities such as Kate Garraway, and their flexible approach meant we were able to react to the changing response to the campaign. 

“The end results exceeded our expectations, with invaluable press coverage. We look forward to working with them again in the near future.”