Sheffield Blitz campaign honoured with major creative industry recognition at Prolific North Awards
The Sheffield Blitz 85th campaign has been honoured with a major creative industry accolade, for its powerful storytelling, at the prestigious Prolific North Creative Awards.
The Sheffield Blitz 85th campaign - a unique heritage project dedicated to preserving the memories of the last living survivors of the blitz - was awarded a Highly Commended accolade, in the Creative for Good category, at the Prolific North Creative Awards, held in Manchester.
The campaign was also shortlisted in the prestigious Master of Narrative category, recognising excellence in storytelling.
The awards celebrate the very best creative, digital, marketing, media and communications work from across the North of England and Scotland, with finalists this year including campaigns involving household names such as Greggs, Adidas, Pepsi, Asda and Auto Trader.
The Sheffield Blitz 85th project was led by the Sheffield Blitz Memorial Trust, with strategic communications and storytelling delivered by Sheffield-based consultancy Neil Anderson Media Ltd.
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project has captured and shared the memories of some of the last surviving people with first-hand recollections of the devastating German air raids on Sheffield in December 1940.
Through survivor interviews, live commemorative events, broadcast media, digital storytelling, a permanent exhibition at the National Emergency Services Museum, an interactive walking app, the ethical use of artificial intelligence and the publication of Defiant Voices – The Blitz Kids of Sheffield, the campaign has brought one of Sheffield's defining moments in history to new audiences.
BUY THE BOOK: Defiant Voices – The Blitz Kids of Sheffield can also be bought online - CLICK HERE.
Collectively, the campaign reached more than two million people through national and regional media coverage, including The Star and Yorkshire Post, ITV News at Ten, BBC Look North and ITV Calendar, while also engaging schools, community organisations and thousands of local residents.
Neil Anderson, founder of Neil Anderson Media, said: "This recognition means an enormous amount because it demonstrates that heritage projects can stand alongside major commercial campaigns when they're built around compelling storytelling and meaningful public engagement.
"The real success of this project isn't the award itself. It's knowing that the experiences of Sheffield's Blitz survivors will continue to educate, inspire and connect future generations long after the last eyewitnesses are gone.
"I'm incredibly grateful to the Sheffield Blitz Memorial Trust, our specialist partners and, above all, the survivors and their families who entrusted us with some of the most personal memories imaginable."
Specialist partners included East Peak Countryside Associates, Front Row Live, Llama Digital and the National Emergency Services Museum.
Front Row Live played a key creative role in the campaign by producing a series of immersive digital experiences that helped bring Sheffield's wartime story to life for modern audiences. Using authentic archive photographs, the team created striking AI-enhanced video sequences that animated real images from the Blitz, allowing viewers to experience the devastation in a powerful new way while remaining rooted in the historical record.
Front Row Live also produced a documentary exploring many of Sheffield's key bombing locations and captured interactive 360-degree photography featured within the updated Sheffield Blitz walking tour app, enabling users to explore significant sites across the city through an engaging digital heritage experience.
The recognition comes during a landmark year for Neil Anderson Media, which has also secured communications roles on a series of major National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported projects across the region, including the recently announced Synth City: The Limit heritage project celebrating one of Sheffield's most influential music venues.
Neil Anderson Media specialises in strategic communications, heritage storytelling and public engagement, helping organisations demonstrate the impact of their communications through evidence-based campaigns and measurable public engagement.
His 15-years of Sheffield Blitz research has included a series of books, including interviews with hundreds of survivors and weeks spent in archives in both the UK and Germany, plus a collaboration with the Imperial War Museum. The result is a vivid and unprecedented insight into the city’s wartime trauma.
BUY NOW: Neil’s Sheffield Blitz books are available now - CLICK HERE.
Neil launched the Definitove Co;lection with a talk in conversation with journalist Graham Walker at Sheffield library - watch below or CLICK HERE.
For further information visit: