BBC Make A Difference Awards at Hinxton Hall Conference Centre
Following a cracking awards ceremony in September organised by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire for their community Make A Difference Awards, producer Heather Noble kindly answered a few questions about the event – held at Hinxton Hall Conference Centre – and how she felt it had gone.
Q: Please tell us a bit about the background of your organisation and your conference/meeting.
HN: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s Make a Difference Awards recognise and celebrate local community champions. The campaign tells stories of their efforts, which are often overlooked and brings them to our audience’s attention. They are incredible, dedicated people who deserve to be appreciated and Make a Difference is our way of honouring them.
Q: We know that your guests had a fantastic time! Please tell us what this event meant to them, and what this means to you.
HN: This event is the culmination of a 9-month campaign of gratitude to our community. It is THE event of our year. Our team look forward to it and our guests do too.
The Make a Difference campaign in Cambridgeshire hopes to highlight the important positive impact that individuals are having in our local area. We’re shouting about the passion, dedication and love that is right next door. We have so much to be proud of and to enable the people of Cambridgeshire to celebrate those efforts is a real privilege.
Thanks for giving local volunteers and community workers the change to have their moment.
Excerpt from thank you message to the event's producer.
Dotty McLeod, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire breakfast presenter, with Lisa Smart and Poppy the labradoodle, winners of the Animal Award.
We listened and watched so many peoples’ stories, for Shyla to walk away as a winner was just incredible. Shyla went to her dance school today and she was asked to share what her evening was like and she said “I felt like a celebrity, everyone was saying well done to me, everyone wanted to shake my hand and I even got to go on the most amazing stage!”
You hosted the most incredible awards evening ever, the venue was stunning, the food was beautiful, the whole evening was so well planned. The posters of everyone was the most amazing touch…
Excerpt from thank you email to the event's producer.
Q: Could you tell us why you chose Hinxton Hall Conference Centre to host your event?
HN: I was impressed with Hannah when we came to site visit and we felt confident that we could make this a success together.
We needed a wow venue to make our guests feel special – this is their glitzy night out. The event space had that appeal and we were able to bring in additional lighting to add colour and movement to the auditorium space. Having the auditorium and event space enabled us to have the exhibition reception and ceremony in separate areas which was desirable.
As an inclusive broadcaster, access was particularly important and we had discounted many venues on this basis. Our guests in wheelchairs must be able to access the stage to receive their trophy and this venue stood out because of the lift. We also knew we would have a higher proportion of wheelchair users than most events. We look to accommodate 10 wheelchair users.
Being able to have a virtual tour online was great for inclusion and enabling guests to see what they were coming to. It was also a useful planning tool.
It was helpful for us that you handled the AV and catering, and that arrangement worked well. Your in-house AV supplier was great. We are used to putting on this show and they were happy to adapt from a ‘conference’ to a ‘show’ which work very differently. Their team were very versatile on the day and brought in some additional coloured lighting for us.
People watching Bilal Aslam receive his Great Neighbour award.
Q: What was your experience of working with our events team?
HN: Hannah and Amy were brilliant. They both understood why this event was important to our guests and they both joined us in wanting to make those guests feel special. Working within a team who want to do their best for the guests means we were all pulling together and willing to go the extra mile to make that happen. They were always available to talk through an idea or detail. Amy changed her working day to come along and also welcomed our guests. She was encouraging throughout and took on the role of go-between well.
Amy arranged for us to designate two prayer rooms in addition to the family room. Again, she understood instantly why this was important and how she could make it work. And she also let me know about a road closure which was great attention to detail and helped our guests.
Q: Is there anything you would highlight as making the Hinxton Hall Conference Centre and its team stand out?
HN: A building and its facilities are only part of the puzzle; it’s the team that made the event the welcoming experience it was.
'The Green Team', enjoying the poster highlighting their contribution and why they were nominated.
Posters telling the story of every award nominee.
Heather also gave us some very helpful, practical feedback on how to improve our processes and procedures to better suit a public audience, and an organiser putting on a public-facing event. This sort of feedback is invaluable for us as we’re always looking to improve.
The Upwood Ukuleles, performing.
Congratulations Heather and the BBC Make a Difference Awards team for putting on such a heart-warming and impactful event.
And thank you very much, Heather, for your time and feedback.
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