The Orders of St John Care Trust

The Orders of St John Care Trust is one of the UK’s leading not-for-profit care organisations working solely to provide high quality care for older people. They provide reputable trusted care, support and housing to residents and tenants across 66 homes and 14 accommodation schemes covering Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, West Sussex and Wiltshire.

Their offering to the elderly includes specialised dementia, intermediate, respite, day care and expert nursing. They were among the first care providers to employ its own specialist Admiral Nurses. The Trust employs approximately 4,800 staff and assists more than 3,500 residents. Their financial surplus is reinvested for the benefit of the residents.

The recent pandemic has affected the care home industry drastically, especially given the negative press coverage care homes have received. In light of that, the marketing team at OSJCT knew it was critical to change public perception and reassure their communities that they continue to nurture a vibrant and caring atmosphere during these hard times.

With every Covid precaution taken, they worked with us to create a story around a resident named ‘Molly’. Videos were shot via video calls to ensure her safety and edited afterwards.

The campaign was nominated for Best Care Home Marketing, Advertising, PR or Digital Initiative at a leading industry awards event.

We then built upon our learnings from this reassurance campaign and applied these to a recruitment targeted one, reaching out to those who had lost their jobs and were looking for a career change through social campaigns. Using employee shot footage, we captured the atmosphere and essence of daily life within various different homes, showing a real sense of unity and a reflection of what it’s like to live in an OSJCT home, whilst discrediting misconceptions the media had created.