The Corporate Engagement Awards' ongoing recognition of excellence in corporate partnerships and sponsorships ranges from community involvement and CSR initiatives to arts and culture programmes. As this year’s winners are announced, the calibre of entries offers fresh, thought-provoking and considered work that takes root at the centre of the corporate landscape.

This year's Corporate Engagement Awards winners reflect a diverse range of sectors and disciplines. With a comprehensive programme that honours work across over 20 categories, including ‘Best alignment of brand values during a CSR programme' and 'Best stakeholder communications,' the Corporate Engagement Awards takes into consideration type, sponsorship, CSR, communication and process, ending with the evening's coveted special award, the Grand Prix.

“This is the 13th year for the awards programme, and the entries continue to enthuse and inspire our judges,” says Andrew Thomas, publisher of Communicate magazine and founder of the awards. “ Tonight's Grand Prix winner, the partnership between Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C, is a charitable initiative raising awareness of the crucial issue of men’s mental health."

The campaign by Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C used football to address men's mental health. Suicide is the biggest killer of people under 35 and men under 50, which makes being able to reach out to others for mental health support crucial.

Three UK’s research found that British people are almost twice as likely to talk about football than their own mental wellbeing. Bringing together several components of all three organisations with a halftime takeover at a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge stadium, the campaign highlighted the mental health support that Samaritans provides. In partnership with Samaritans and Chelsea F.C, the halftime takeover encouraged men to #TalkMoreThanFootball. 

Andrew Thomas continues: "It is the innovation, the creativity and the desire to make a change that mean these three organisations walk away with tonight’s top honour."

The full list of the Corporate Engagement Awards 2023 winners is as follows:

 

PARTNERSHIPS

 

Best charity, NGO or NFP programme

Gold – Robert Walters Group and the Global Angels Foundation

Silver – Greene King and Macmillan Cancer Support

Bronze – Superdrug, Savers and Marie Curie

Highly commended – Sigma Software Group

 

Best educational programme

Gold – OVO Foundation

Silver – NatWest MoneySense

Bronze – Birmingham Organising Committee for the Commonwealth Games and EVERFI

Bronze – WHSmith and National Literacy Trust

Highly commended – AstraZeneca and Plan International UK

Highly commended – Barclays LifeSkills

Highly commended – KPMG

 

Best arts and culture programme

Silver – Sigma Software Group

 

Best environmental or sustainable programme

Gold – Northumbrian Water Group and Hopscotch Consulting

Silver – The Conservation Volunteers and NatWest Group

Bronze – SailGP and Aggreko

Bronze – Springer Nature and Hubbub

Highly commended – Cargill Türkiye and Linkus PR

 

Best pro-bono work for a charitable, social or ethical cause

Gold – Sigma Software Group

Silver – Bowel Research UK (BRUK) and Bladonmore

Silver – ITV 'Britain Get Talking', Mind, YoungMinds and SAMH

Bronze – New Horizon Youth Centre and Havas UK

Bronze – Ukraine Warrior Games Team and TEAM LEWIS Foundation

 

Best sports and leisure programme

Gold – Sport England and Hopscotch Consulting

Silver – Project Rugby

Bronze – Flutter Entertainment plc

Highly commended – NBA and EVERFI

 

SPONSORSHIP

 

Best sponsorship activity to support or develop a corporate reputation

Gold – Tata Consultancy Services and Jaguar TCS Racing Formula E Team

Bronze – Takeda, Over The Wall and Hill+Knowlton Strategies

 

Best alignment of brand values through sponsorship activity

Gold – Stroke Association and Wiltshire Farm Foods

Silver – Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C.

 

Best engagement of an internal audience in a sponsorship programme

Gold – Superdrug, Savers and Marie Curie

Bronze – Gowling WLG and DRPG

 

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

 

Best CSR activity or programme to support or develop a corporate reputation

Gold – SoftServe

Silver – St Richard’s Hospice and DRPG

 

Best alignment of brand values during a CSR programme

Gold – Turkish Aerospace

Silver – Aldermore Bank and EVERFI

 

Best community involvement during a CSR programme

Gold – Cargill Türkiye and Linkus PR

Bronze – Sigma Software Group

 

Best engagement of an internal audience in a CSR programme

Gold – Pets at Home and Hubbub

Gold – Virgin Media O2

Silver – Samsung UK and We Are Futures, Iris, Taylor Herring, Future Learn

Silver – TEAM LEWIS Foundation

Bronze – Flutter Entertainment plc

Highly commended – Paramount and The Chameleon Agency

 

Best collaboration for a single event

Gold – Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C.

Silver – EPAM Systems, Inc

Bronze – B&Q and Shelter

 

Best foundation

Gold – OVO Foundation

Silver – Make-A-Wish UK, Tommy’s, Whizz Kidz and Poundland/Poundland Foundation

 

TIME

 

Most effective one-off campaign

Gold – Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C.

Silver – NSPCC and Lidl GB

 

Most effective long-term commitment

Gold – Greene King and Macmillan Cancer Support

Silver – Make-A-Wish UK, Tommy’s, Whizz Kidz and Poundland/Poundland Foundation

Silver – NatWest MoneySense

Bronze – KPMG and National Numeracy

Bronze – Robert Walters Group and the Global Angels Foundation

Bronze – Superdrug, Savers and Marie Curie

Highly commended – Barclays LifeSkills

Highly commended – Premier Inn and Restaurants (Whitbread) and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity

 

COMMUNICATION

 

Best stakeholder communications

Silver – Coloplast UK, Four Agency Worldwide, Colostomy UK, Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Association, and Urostomy Association

 

Best internal communications

Silver – Sigma Software Group

Bronze – Paramount and The Chameleon Agency

 

Best PR and external communications

Gold – Weleda and Red Consultancy

Silver – Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C.

Bronze – Turkish Aerospace

 

PROCESS

 

Best collaborative approach

Gold – Greene King and Macmillan Cancer Support

Gold – WHSmith and National Literacy Trust

Silver – Women in Sport, Places for People, Hey Girls and Hopscotch Consulting

Bronze – Network Rail and Shelter

Bronze – Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C.

 

Best team effort during a programme

Silver – Convatec

Bronze – CBRE UK and Macmillan Cancer Support

 

Most effective sponsorship of a single event

Gold – Takeda, Over The Wall and Hill+Knowlton Strategies

 

GRAND ACCOLADE

 

Grand prix

Winner – Three UK, Samaritans and Chelsea F.C.