Effective communications are key to promoting and raising the profile of community rail activities. This category is seeking submissions that can evidence the delivery of a well-planned integrated communications campaign, aimed at publicising community rail activity or promoting success. Judges will be looking for effectively managed campaigns with evidence of PR activity and clear examples of measuring the campaign’s impact (e.g. through social media).

Entries invited from:

We invite entries from community rail partnerships, station adoption or friends’ groups, or other community groups and representatives working in partnership with a community rail member. Rail industry partners can submit entries where a project was undertaken in partnership with a community rail partnership or community group, but the entry must clearly demonstrate this partnership working, be agreed with the community partner(s), and their contact details provided.

Judging criteria:

• Delivery of an effective communications campaign, accessible and engaging for the intended audience, working with partners to drive results; 
• Evidence of PR activity undertaken and media log/clippings of successful features/articles;
• Conveys clear messages and promotes community rail in an informative, interesting way, relevant to the audience;
• Good planning, management, and use of appropriate channels – evidence of rationale behind the choice of media, planning, timing, audience and coordinated use of channels;
• Evaluation – clear evidence of the impact of the campaign, including the reach across social media/increase in followers (if appropriate).