Supporting Barnardo’s engagement with Integrated Care Systems for children’s health equity

Barnardo’s was partnering with the Institute of Health Equity to shape how Integrated Care Systems address health inequalities among children and young people. Through an expression of interest process, they sought to partner with three ICSs to co-design a Children and Young People’s Health Equity framework as a live tool for measuring and effecting the contribution of VCSE and wider statutory partners to ICS programmes.

The challenge extended beyond simple recruitment. Barnardo’s required strategic relationship building across the complex landscape of integrated care systems, whilst simultaneously raising their profile as a vital partner in health and care delivery. This necessitated navigation of multiple stakeholder groups, each with distinct priorities, communication preferences, and decision-making processes within the healthcare ecosystem.

Approach

Blue Lozenge developed a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy that combined targeted relationship building, digital engagement platforms, and strategic event delivery to connect Barnardo’s with decision-makers across the integrated care system landscape.

We created six meticulously researched contact databases, with contacts relevant to Barnardo’s strategic objectives. Recognising the need to simplify the stakeholder experience, we developed a user-friendly online expression of interest form that was fully optimised for mobile devices. This digital-first approach removed barriers to participation whilst ensuring Barnardo’s could efficiently process and analyse submissions from potential partners.

We designed and delivered two strategic webinars that served multiple purposes: educating stakeholders about the programme’s value proposition, creating networking opportunities, and providing a platform for direct engagement with Barnardo’s leadership team. Our approach included comprehensive Eventbrite setup and promotion to maximise ongoing engagement. We implemented robust analytics across all channels to track engagement, measure success, and provide Barnardo’s with actionable insights about their audience and campaign performance.

Impact

This project successfully generated significant engagement across the Integrated Care System landscape, creating valuable strategic connections and substantially elevating Barnardo’s profile within the health and care sector. We achieved, 2,291 campaign link clicks demonstrating strong interest, 4,574 event page views showing extensive reach, and 15 expressions of interest received from qualified ICS partners.

The campaign’s success extended beyond numerical metrics. By strategically engaging Directors of Children’s Services, Public Health leads, and ICS executive teams, we positioned Barnardo’s as a thought leader in children’s health equity. The personalised approach to stakeholder mapping and outreach resulted in meaningful expressions of interest from qualified partners and elevated Barnardo’s visibility in national healthcare conversations, establishing lasting relationships that extended well beyond the initial campaign objectives.