Global marketing publisher The Drum has recognised leading homelessness charity St Mungo’s at their annual awards for excellence in digital marketing and communications.

St Mungo’s was shortlisted in two categories at a virtual ceremony held on Thursday (14 October) celebrating The Drum Awards for the Digital Industries. The awards celebrate leading contributions in digital engagement and impact.

Emily Boardman, St Mungo’s Digital Communications Officer, was nominated  for ‘Rising Star of the Year’, while the St Mungo’s Digital Fundraising team were also recognised in the ‘Not-for-Profit/Charity’ category for their ‘Cold Facts’ emergency appeal – produced in collaboration with digital customer experience agency Parkhouse.

Rough sleeping is harmful and dangerous at any time of year, but the ‘Cold Facts’ campaign, which ran in February this year on Facebook, highlighted the increased dangers of rough sleeping in freezing temperatures.

Using video, imagery and animation, ‘Cold Facts’ aimed to raise awareness about SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol). SWEP is activated by councils when temperatures are forecast to hit zero degrees or below. It is an emergency response which involves intensive work by local street outreach teams to save lives.

Between December and April this year, St Mungo’s outreach teams provided an unprecedented 32 days of SWEP provision, supporting local authorities across London with emergency accommodation for people sleeping rough during the extreme, cold weather.

Catherine Feast, Director of Policy and Communications at St Mungo’s said: “We are so proud to have nominated for these prestigious prizes. It’s wonderful to be recognised by our professional peers and to celebrate the brilliant work of our communications and digital fundraising teams to tell stories, engage the public and raise much-needed awareness across digital platforms.

“We believe that rough sleeping can be ended by 2026 but to do this it’s instrumental that we find compelling and impactful ways to communicate the realities of homelessness and galvanise public support for our ambitions, policies and interventions.

“We are excited to have been shortlisted for these accolades that demonstrate the skill, creativity and compassion of our staff.”

More details about the awards including a full list of nominees and winners is here.