We’ve been shortlisted for two prestigious awards for our work to support our members and the public when the UK moved into coronavirus lockdown.

Our Member and Public Covid-19 Response (MaPCoR) campaign is up for the ‘Best Member Support During Covid-19’ category at the Association Awards UK 2020.

We’ve also been shortlisted at the same awards for the Best Online Conference category, for our ‘Keeping clients at the centre of research’ conference.

What was our MaPCoR campaign?

Our chief executive Hadyn Williams said: “As the UK moved into lockdown in mid-March, so did BACP and our members.

“It meant a seismic shift in the professional landscape for our members, on the scale of nothing we’ve experienced before.

“Our members looked to us for guidance and support during this challenging period, and in response our MaPCoR campaign was born.

“The project was a significant organisational wide achievement for us and our 53,000 members, so to have that dedication, skill and hard graft recognised by an external body is hugely pleasing.”

The MaPCoR campaign aimed to identify and fulfil the changing needs of our members and their clients, and to create the best possible experience during the pandemic.

Our team, who were all working from home, developed and delivered a comprehensive suite of resources including our dedicated Covid-19 micro-site, which has been viewed more than 500,000 times.

This suite of pages was the central point for our member and public Covid-19 engagement, and included key communications, resources, events and guidance. We also produced a series of FAQs aimed at practitioners, businesses, counselling services, students and trainers.

The frequency of our ebulletins was increased to keep members updated with the latest resources, guidance and news, and we collaborated with a range of external partners such as Open University to bring specialist knowledge, insight and resources to our members.

Our Advice for the Public pages – which include links to Find a Therapist near you, guidance on how therapy can help and client case studies – have also been viewed more than 100,000 times.

Our Policy Team have been campaigning the government on behalf of members to reiterate the vital role of therapy in supporting the nation through Covid-19 and beyond. The campaign has been backed by 24 partner organisations and received more than 10,000 signatories.

What was our research conference?

We’ve also been nominated for our 25th annual research conference, which was held online in May.

The theme was Keeping clients at the centre, and the event brought together live and webcast elements.

Members were able to choose from a range of presentations, submit questions to hosts and to network with other practitioners in our chatroom.

It was free to members and attracted just under 1,000 delegates, with an on-demand service running until the end of August.

Hadyn said: “Our other major success has been in successfully moving our entire workforce to a virtual working environment in such short timescales – and in continuing to anticipate, serve and exceed our members’ expectations throughout.

“This has been a phenomenal challenge for our organisation, but one we’ve risen to.”

The award winners will be announced on December 16.