A digital campaign developed by University of Worcester students on behalf of West Mercia and Warwickshire Police, is making waves around the world, including being shown at a recent United Nations conference in Washington DC.
The campaign, #UncoverYourPotential, urges people to consider a career with the police. It was produced by the women's staff networks at both police forces, in conjunction with students from the BA (Hons) Creative Media course at the University of Worcester.
The centrepiece of the campaign is an exciting video, starring officers and staff of all roles and ranks across the two forces. It is supported by an educational campaign, including posters, social media and an education pack for all primary and secondary schools across the county.
University of Worcester students Shakela Brown, Isobel Barnsley and Petra Sobotkova, worked on every element of the campaign, including designing the concept and planning, filming and photography, post production, artwork and delivery.
The campaign has gone out to every school, primary and secondary school in the West Mercia and Warwickshire areas and has now been shown at the UN's He for She Conference in London and in Washington DC.
Helen Holmes, Course Leader for Creative Media at the University, said: “It is invaluable for our students to work on live projects, to gain experience working direct with clients and models, and the campaign will be used in their portfolios and showreels and will be a main focus at their Degree Show.
“To have the video screened at the UN is just fantastic and is real credit to the quality of the students’ work.”
DI Liz Warner, of West Mercia Police, said: “We always knew that a video which was fun, engaging and surprising would be the centrepiece of our #UncoverYourPotential campaign, encouraging people to watch, share and help us to challenge unconscious bias and the stereotyping of roles in the police. We immediately thought that the University of Worcester would be the ideal partner to work with us; as well as being local, their values of inclusiveness, integrity and community at the heart of everything they do was a great fit for the ethos of our campaign and our force.”
Insp Lucy Sewell, of Warwickshire Police, added: “We were thrilled when Helen Holmes, of the Creative Media Department at the University of Worcester, agreed to work with us. Helen and the students, Shakela, Izzy and Petra, completely understood the aim of our campaign and their talent, enthusiasm and professionalism was second to none. They carried out all of the filming and photography for no cost and in their own time, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the completed video, as well as the supporting educational and marketing collateral, such as a word search, posters and social media banners, which they also produced to an extremely high standard. I sincerely hope that the work of the students with us is a springboard to a very successful media career.”
You can view the video by searching for Warwickshire or West Mercia Police YouTube, or follow the hashtag #UncoverYourPotential on Twitter or Instagram.