Excellence in the Communication of Survey or Market Research Data

Summary of work

Crohn’s and Colitis are life-long, sometimes life-threatening inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) which affect 1:200 of the population. During 2011, Crohn’s and Colitis UK focused its attention on the Government’s welfare reforms and particularly IBD and employment; the charity commissioned surveys of employees and employers, campaigning for better working conditions. Based on the identified problem area, namely that 68 per cent of charity members felt they had little/no control over working conditions, the survey report launch at the House of Commons achieved excellent quality media coverage and lobbying resulted in a Westminster Hall Debate.

With sport and fitness in the spotlight during 2012, Crohn’s and Colitis UK carried out its first survey on this subject - finding that 80 per cent of members had had to give up sports temporarily/permanently as a result of their condition. With the help of six new sports Ambassadors and Champions including Sir Steven Redgrave and rugby star Lewis Moody, the results were distributed amongst a far wider range of media outlets and audiences than the charity had achieved in previous years, including interviews broadcast across 154 radio stations nationwide, to a total audience of 51 million. Coverage of members’ sporting fundraising challenges and income from the 2012 Challenges increased dramatically over the previous year.

Judges comments

We were really impressed by Crohn’s and Colitis UK’s high impact, sustained campaigning to articulate the voice of the IBD community through patient research. On the one hand, in their employment report they engaged policy makers and employers about helping people with IBD remain at work. On the other hand, working with Lewis Moody and other sports stars they saught to inspire IBD patients to regain fitness after surgery and flare-ups. Congratulations to Crohn’s and Colitis UK on an outstanding campaign.