The Coachmakers receive a Commendation

Pictured above: David Cole, Secretary of the Charity Committee, receives the award on behalf of the Coachmakers

The Company of Communicators recently held its annual pan-Livery competition to identify worthy winners of its Clarity in Charity Communications Award for 2021. This award was established by the Company of Communicators (formerly the Guild of Public Relations Practitioners) in 2015 in conjunction with the Worshipful Company of Glaziers & Painters of Glass.

The Clarity in Charity Communications prize is awarded for excellence in communications by a non-professional (i.e. not carried by a professional communications company or individual who trades as a communications practitioner).

It has been set up to recognise communications activity linked to the Livery movement and the charitable sector. It celebrates those who have worked to raise the profile of a charitable endeavour with, or through their Livery company and the City. These people are often unsung and unrecognised outside their company and it is the Communicators’ wish to publicly recognise their hard work and achievements.

The Coachmakers submission for this award was as follows:

THE ‘CLARITY IN CHARITY COMMUNICATIONS’ AWARD 2021

We nominate the Charity Committee of the Coachmakers Company.

Preamble

The Coachmakers’ focus is on young people studying or wishing to study STEM subjects at A Level and university. To that end the Company donates from £112,000 per year by means of scholarships, bursaries and awards, directly, via and to educational establishments and students.

2020-21

The effects of the pandemic on students were close to catastrophic. The Charity Committee undertook an internal communication campaign, remotely to add to the difficulty, to persuade the Court and the whole Livery, to substantially increase our charitable donations in this difficult period.

We sought a threefold increase for this year, a total of £331,546, to provide immediate funds to student hardship funds at five London universities: Brunel, City, Imperial, Kingston and Queen Mary; youth mental health through Young Minds and Step Ahead; youth homelessness in London through Centrepoint; hospitality in London (where so many students work) through Hospitality Action; and two community-based projects: Cavell Nurses and Trussell Trust London Foodbank.

Communication

Our first success was that the programme was universally endorsed by the Court and Livery.

Prudence demands a cautious approach to the husbandry of resources in normal times, and the internal campaign succeeded because individuals were persuaded that this was a proper use of our charitable funds while our reserves were not adversely affected.

Our second aim was to inform these universities and charities about the positive effect of the Livery movement. The aim being to change perceptions and demonstrate that Livery companies are involved in the modern world.

Today, not that many months following the initiative, the Coachmakers is actively involved with the five universities and charities listed above who now appreciate what lies behind Livery traditions. As importantly, more individual Liverymen have put themselves forward to be involved and engaged with our charitable endeavours.

The results

The Coachmakers did not win the specially designed and beautiful leaded glass roundel created by artist Emma Butler-Cole Aiken, that honour went to the Glovers’ Company for their work to promote their prosthetic hand initiative. However, along with the Livery Kitchen initiative that raised £700,000 to deliver 160,000+ meals to four Barts Health NHS Trust hospitals and 16 deprived communities in East London, led by the Drapers’ Company, the Coachmakers efforts were recognised and commended.

The Certificate awarded to mark this achievement was received on behalf of the Master by Liveryman David Cole, the Secretary of the Charity Committee.