Child of Wales Awards
Overview
The Child of Wales Awards was founded by Blanche Sainsbury, a respected media executive, former Managing Director of the South Wales Evening Post and a non-executive director of several major businesses, including Bluestone. Her vision was to create an event dedicated to recognising and celebrating the bravery, resilience and achievements of young people across Wales.
The awards were conceived as a national platform to shine a light on inspirational stories and to give young people the recognition they deserve. From the outset, it was clear this would be a values-led initiative, requiring a sensitive, credible and high-quality communications approach.
The brief
Seren Global Media was brought in at the very beginning of the project. Everything needed to be created from scratch: the name, the brand, the digital presence and the full communications strategy.
Our role was to manage all aspects of communications, content and design for the awards. This included developing the brand identity, designing and launching the website, setting up and managing social media channels, producing regular blog and website content, and leading press and media relations. We also managed communications with a wide range of stakeholders, including sponsors, partners and high-profile supporters.
The initial objective was to build awareness and credibility quickly, ensuring the awards attracted the interest of sponsors and public figures. Once that foundation was established, the focus shifted to engaging the public and encouraging nominations of young people whose stories deserved to be told.
Our approach
A key early stage of the project was the rebrand from the National Children of Wales Awards to the Child of Wales Awards. We led the concept development for the new name and identity, designing a new logo and visual style that felt confident, celebratory and distinctly Welsh.
The launch of the Child of Wales Awards was timed to coincide with St David’s Day, chosen for its cultural significance and as a natural moment to introduce a new Wales-focused initiative. The visual identity, including the gold and red colour palette, was then applied consistently across all materials, from programmes and invitations to digital and social content.
Alongside brand development, we delivered a wide-ranging multimedia campaign. This included regular blogs and updates, social media content, and proactive media engagement to build momentum and reach. The campaign successfully attracted high-profile support, with figures including Carol Vorderman and Catherine Zeta-Jones publicly backing the initiative.
The project also presented significant challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The awards ceremony was postponed twice, requiring careful, clear and empathetic communications with nominees, families, sponsors and partners. We managed all communications around these changes and helped reshape the programme to ensure the winners were still celebrated meaningfully.
This included producing a virtual winners’ announcement video and writing individual profiles highlighting each winner’s achievements. We also supported ongoing engagement through daily social media activity and video content, including the “Hello Monday Assemblies” presented by Child of Wales special adviser Pepe Hart. These weekly video blogs were designed to support parents and children during lockdown, covering topics such as resilience, confidence and staying true to yourself. Seren Global Media handled filming, editing and design of this content.
The outcome
The Child of Wales Awards ultimately took place on 4 March and was hosted by Welsh television presenter Gethin Jones. The event was a major success, celebrating extraordinary young people from across Wales and receiving widespread positive attention.
More than 200 nominations were received, demonstrating strong public engagement and awareness of the awards. The project established the Child of Wales Awards as a credible and respected platform, with strong foundations for future growth.
Following the success of this work, Seren Global Media has also supported the Child of Britain Awards, providing expertise across media relations, social media strategy, content creation, advertising and visual design. Together, these projects reflect our ability to take a complex initiative from concept through to delivery, adapting to challenges while maintaining clarity, quality and impact.
