Carers UK, the charity whose mission it is to make life better for the UK’s 5.7 million unpaid carers, has been announced as The Creative Shootout’s Charity of the Year. This follows the announcement earlier this year that ‘The Nation’s Health’ was the theme for the next awards.
Entry to The Creative Shootout opens for any discipline UK creative agency w/c 25th September 2023 at creativeshootout.com, with the Live Final being staged at BAFTA in London on Thursday 25th January 2024.
Carers UK provides information on accessing financial aid, emotional support and advice on caring. It also helps combat loneliness by connecting carers, and campaigns for better rights and lasting change.
Most recently, the charity has successfully campaigned for workers across the UK to have the right to take up to five days of unpaid leave from work to care for older, disabled or ill friends and relatives. In May, the Carer’s Leave Bill received Royal Assent and became an Act, which could see the legislation coming into force in April 2024 at the earliest.
At the Live Final in January 2024 eight agency teams selected by a panel of soon to be announced judges, will take centre stage at BAFTA in front of a live audience of hundreds and respond to a brief set just four hours earlier before, by Carers UK. They then each have eight minutes only to pitch their idea, with the winning agency team crowned on the night.
The agency will then go on to work with Carers UK to bring the campaign to life and make real, lasting impact, and will be supported by a range of partners including The Guardian. A £10,000 prize fund to help them on their way is also awarded.
Helen Walker, chief executive at Carers UK comments: “We are hugely excited to be The Creative Shootout’s Charity of the Year. This is a transformative opportunity for the best creative talent in the industry to share their visions of ways we can reach more unpaid carers and support them to identify their caring role and better look after their health. It’s sure to throw up some fantastic ideas and initiatives that will help carers across the country get the support they need.”
Johnny Pitt, Founder of The Creative Shootout comments; “5.7 million carers in the UK is a figure that will shock many. But if we think about it, most of us have cared for a loved one, or know someone who has. So, when we think about ‘the nation’s health’, the millions of people who quietly get on with the selfless act of love and service, with conditions made even more difficult in a cost of living crisis, have never needed more recognition.”
Previous charities that have benefitted from The Creative Shootout include UNICEF, Time to Change, FareShare, A Plastic Planet, Crisis and, most recently, FoodCycle.
