Case study
Strategic communications for NP11
Helping the north speak to government with one voice
Brand Name
The Big Community Sew
Services Offered
Campaign planning / implementation, CGI / animation, PR - consumer, Social media - organic, Social media - paid, Web design, Web development
The objective of The Big Community Sew was to help accelerate behavioural change by getting the public to adopt non-medical face coverings as a new norm as the UK emerged from the first lockdown.
It aimed to mobilise the nation’s home sewers to provide free face-coverings for their local communities.
Patrick Grant, the fashion designer best known for his role as a judge on The Great British Sewing Bee, conceived the Big Community Sew. It was aligned to public health guidance across the four home nations. It went from conception to launch in a matter of days, and Social provided support with communications across digital channels and the wider media. Patrick launched the campaign to four million viewers on BBC1’s The One Show in May 2020.
He produced a how-to video and drew on his networks of sewing influencers, fashion designers and Great British Sewing Bee contestants to do the same. They were produced by Love Productions, makers of the Great British Sewing Bee, targeting sewers of different skill levels.
Our website included a page for sewing groups to sign up, linked to their Facebook pages. This enabled them to promote their involvement in The Big Community Sew and directly respond to local requests. A key message was to encourage people to share the face coverings they had made on social media and the #Bigcommunitysew hashtag was used 1,000 times.
We promoted the videos using social media, collaborating with sewing and crafting influencers such as Tilly and the Buttons, Elisalex and Molly Makes Cakes. Â
We secured print coverage in national newspapers such as The Sun and Daily Express along with strong television coverage on BBC Breakfast, Sky News and ITV’s This Morning, and radio coverage on BBC 5Live among others.
Over 100 sewing groups signed up to the campaign. Corporate partnerships were established with Aldi, Blackburn Rovers Football Club, John Lewis and EUROSPAR (Northern Ireland).Â
Patrick launched a competition in the summer of 2020 to encourage sewers of all ages (under 12 years, 13 -17 years, 18+ years) to design a stylish and functional face mask. The aim of the competition was, now people were accustomed to face coverings, to wear them with style and confidence.Â
The competition ran during July and August 2020 with winners announced live on the BBC News channel on September 4th 2020.
The Big Community Sew made a big impact, including:Â
- 1,000,000+ free face coverings delivered
- 348,000 views of how-to videos on the Big Community Sew website
- Helped to normalise the wearing of face coverings in public places
- Mobilised over 120 sewing groups from Shetland to Torbay and Llanelli to Newry.
The campaign has also achieved a sustainable legacy. The Big Community Sew is now an established charity with a mission to connect charities, hospitals and community groups who have an urgent need for sewing with volunteers who will sew for them.
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