The Context
Forest of Dean District Council. Sole communications lead. Then COVID happened.
The Work
Coordinated residents, businesses, and military partners through peak pandemic. Army, Navy, RAF bases within the district — which means multi-agency crisis drills, 2am phone calls, and the kind of rapid response protocols you can’t fake.
Built frameworks that got tested immediately. Refined them in real-time. Learned what actually works when things are moving too fast for approval chains.
The Numbers
150%+ increase in positive social interactions. 35% increase in resident trust metrics over 12 months. Not vanity metrics — actual shifts in how people engaged with their local authority during the most stressful period in recent memory.
What It Taught Me
Crisis comms isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about staying calm, being honest, and showing up consistently. People can handle bad news. They can’t handle silence.
Turns out people engage when you’re not boring. Even during a pandemic.