Awards matter. A shiny trophy brings joy. People love a certificate. Why? Recognition. 

Working in public sector comms can be relentless. You’re constantly reacting, adapting, planning, proofing, chasing sign-off, trying to do more with less. And often, the best work? It happens quietly. Behind the scenes. With very little time to reflect and celebrate the graft you put in.

I’ve been there. I know just how much a bit of recognition can mean to both individuals and a team. When I worked at Staffordshire County Council, I wanted to get the team celebrating their successes and recognised for the hard work they put in day in, day out. So, we started to enter awards. And we started winning! Have a read of my LinkedIn blog about it from a couple of years ago about my thoughts on it back then. 

Continuing on from these successes, last year, I had a proper ‘pinch me’ moment when I was named Best Communications Professional at the Comms2Point0 UnAwards. I still grin when I think about it. My team also picked up several wins, and seeing them recognised for their brilliance was one of my proudest moments as a leader. Because let’s be honest – public sector comms teams don’t always get their moment in the spotlight. But we absolutely deserve it.

At Orlo, we get how important recognition is, so that’s why we launched the Orlo Spotlight Awards.

We work with so many brilliant comms professionals across local and central government, NHS, housing, blue light services, charities and more. We see the effort. The creativity. The purpose behind the work.

We know how much it matters.

So we created the Orlo Spotlight Awards for our customers to celebrate exactly that. Not just glossy campaigns, but the people behind them. The ones staying late to get messaging right. The ones making a difference in their communities. The ones keeping calm under pressure, time and time again.

We want to celebrate you. And we want to give you the opportunity to show that off to the leaders in your organisations, too. Yes the certificate is lovely, but the impact of winning goes much further than that. Showing the bosses that you’re nationally recognised among the best public sector comms professionals goes a long way for you and your organisation’s reputation. 

You might know our Spotlight Awards from their previous iteration – The Golden Ele’s.  And we’ve had some top-notch winners over the years.

The Spotlight Awards are our new version of the awards – brought up to date to reflect Orlo’s mission to help our customers build stronger, more resilient communities through brilliant conversations. 

We’re not looking for perfection in your applications. We’re looking for impact.

This isn’t about slick submissions or big budgets. It’s about:

• People making a difference in real, tangible ways
• Teams pulling together to deliver under pressure
• Honest, thoughtful, community-driven comms

To give you an idea, allow us to introduce you to some of last year’s winners! Buckinghamshire Council’s bold ‘For Bucks’ Sake!’ campaign won the social media campaign of the year award through clever messaging and community engagement. Wakefield Council won the award for the best use of data by showcasing their data-driven approach which resulted in a 30% increase in their overall trust score. The unsung hero award went to Ellie Moore from Reading Borough Council who became a highly valued member of the team after she joined during COVID in a temporary role. Ellie’s role became permanent and was nominated by her colleagues for this award.  

If any of the above sounds like a team, campaign or someone you know, I’d love you to enter. Because your work deserves more than a quiet ‘well done’. It deserves the spotlight.

If you’re an Orlo customer, whether you’re a team of one or a busy department, whether you’re nominating yourself or someone else…take that moment. Put yourself forward.

You never know who’s watching. And sometimes, that recognition is exactly what someone needs to keep going.

Register your entry in advance, and submit your nominations for the Orlo Spotlight Awards – entries are now open here: https://orlo.tech/events/event-orlo-spotlight-awards-overview-2025/