If you win an award as part of a project you have delivered,  it's your responsibility to make sure that everybody knows about the journey that you've been on.

This is so they can repeat the project and improve on it and increase your personal impact in the world. (This also applies to runners up and highly commended by the way!)

I would go as far as to say it is a waste of your time NOT to share your story- because you have missed the chance of having huge huge impact...instead of impact on a smaller scale. 

In this blog post I talk about why you should share your story by talking about our recent trip to the big smoke for the NHS Sustainability Awards 2017 (part of NHS sustainability Day) . I also offer to cover your story for free so that others can repeat your project or inititive. 

On Wednesday night we went down to the NHS Sustainability Awards in London.

We were very proud to sponsor the category for Reuse for the awards. We're very proud that we help our customers to save the NHS millions of pounds using our software. 

Central Manchester University Hospital Sustainability Team built by Claire Igoe. 

We got there late because the girls had been doing the "Oxford street thing' (ie shopping!"), and I'd been meeting NHS customers further up North, and I actually was delayed getting to London because of the horrendous rain, but we got there just as everyone was sitting down.

We sat on a table with a team from University College London Hospitals UCLH;[Rajnika Sarah  and Chris]. We started having a chat as you do, and we quickly found out that UCLH were actually up for an award in a category we were sponsoring, so I inwardly said to myself,

"Oh gosh, I hope they win, so I don't need to come back to the table and things are all a bit awkward."

(Find out at the end of this blog post whether there was an awkward silence!)

John and Sarah from UCLH with their disability aid reuse project. 

The guys from Aneurin Bevan

The event was hosted by Imperial College London, (One of our customers- see their performance here) . It was actually great to see so many of our customers at the event. When I skimmed through the awards contenders, about 60% to 70% of them were already our customers.

It was great to chat with old and new faces at this "black tie do", everyone looked great, smart , glamorous, and elegant.

Keynote

Dame Barbara Hakin's keynote speech was a great reminder of what the NHS is all about and certainly got me motivated and a bit damp in the eyes. She talked story about her many years in the great institution and referenced the NHS's  vision to remind everyone why we do this.

 As each award category was announced, the person presenting the award would come up, and open the envelope for a highly commended and the winner. When I was announced to come up, I thought I would say a few words.

I asked the crowd if everyone was having a good time, everyone shouted,

"Yes!"

I asked if everybody was proud of what they've done, everyone said,

"Yes."

I asked the crowd, "Are there any innovators in the room? Please put your hand up!"

Everybody put their hand up.

I used this chance to remind people that as part of the most innovative group in the NHS that they have a responsibility. 

I reminded everybody that they've done really well to get this far, but the awards journey  is not over if you win an award or are a runner up.

I think when you go in for an award you need to share that process with all your colleagues in other organisations, because you need to scale up your process or your project to maximise impact.

So I told everyone to make sure they talked to others and spread the word! Because:

• You need to scale up your succesful project to make your sector THRIVE!
• You want your peers to be able to repeat your project in their organisation.
• You need to tell everybody about your challenges, what worked, what didn't work.
• You need to tell your colleagues in other institutions what you failed at, why it failed, so they can avoid your expensive mistakes.

A great way to do this is via case studies which are focused on repeatability and scale-ability.

Benefits of sharing your story

• Much greater personal impact
• Help others save time and money 
• Help to make your sector thrive
• Respect and recognition from your peers and colleagues
• Further your career
• Build networks with others to improve collaboration

Central Manchester University Hospital's haul!

Here is a list of the winners and runners up, and then I've highlighted who our customers are with an asterix.  

The Winners

Overall Winner- Sponsored by Carillion
Central Manchester University Hospitals*

Carbon- Sponsored by Sust-N

Winner- Central Manchester University Hospitals*

Public Health- Sponsored by 4 All of us

Winner-Lancashire Teaching Hospitals*

Travel and Transport- Sponsored by Sustrans
Winner-The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust*

Reuse- Sponsored by Warp-It

Winner- UCLH

Waste Management- Sponsored by Bywaters
Winner- Central Manchester University Hospitals*

Digital- Sponsored by 4 All of us
Winner- West Lancashire CCG

Food- Sponsored by Quorn

Winner- Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust*

Finance- Sponsored by Salix
Winner- North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust*

Energy- Sponsored by Skanska

Winner- North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust*

Leadership- Sponsored by 4 All of us
Winner-Public Health Wales

Water- Sponsored by ADSM
Winner-Imperial College Healthcare Trust

Procurement- Sponsored by 4 All of us
Winner- Public Health Wales

Innovation-Sponsored by Bouygues
Winner- Aneurin Bevan University Health Board*

Workforce Development-Sponsored by 4 All of us
Winner- Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The carriages turned up around 11 and people drifted away into the night. Everyone had a great night, everyone had a lot of fun. I'm sure they're all back at work now getting stuck into their next big projects.

Congratulations, everybody who was there this time. Well done, you should be proud of yourself, and make sure you share your story!

Let us help you increase your impact and repeat your project in other organisations! 

If you want us to do a study into your project and the journey you have been on,  you can book in some time with us. The case study will be focused on repeatability and scalability so that we increase your impact. 

This will take 20 minutes of your time. We will get right to the centre of your story. 

To book in a call so that we can make a scaleability focused case studies please hit the picture below.

PS Rajika Sarah and Chris at UCLH won their category for a great reuse project for disability aids!! Yes!!