Over the course of the last year, we have been privileged to be actively involved the development and delivery of local government's first national recruitment campaign – and the next big step is just around the corner, so we want to share an important update with colleagues across the sector.

The upcoming Make a Difference, Work for your Local Council campaign aims to inspire individuals to explore career opportunities that have a direct, lasting impact on the lives of residents. People across the country will be encouraged to ‘Make a Difference' in their community through a career with their council.

Co-produced by the Local Government Association (LGA), Solace and the local government sector, and funded by the Government as part of the LGA's Sector Support Programme 2024-25, the campaign is the first of its kind to showcase the wide range of rewarding and impactful career opportunities on offer across local government.

Whether in children's social care, environmental health, planning, finance, or another vital role in the sector – the campaign sheds light on the opportunities available that enable people to be a part of meaningful change, delivering essential services for residents every day.

With more than nine in 10 councils experiencing recruitment and retention challenges while facing unprecedented demand for services, this flagship campaign comes at a crucial time for the sector to address workforce shortages and attract new talent into councils.

An initial pilot of the campaign was successfully run in the North East of England from January to March this year, supported by the North East Regional Employers' Organisation.

The pilot campaign delivered major advertising on billboards, radio and social media across the North East to highlight the exciting opportunities to develop a career in local government and the difference people can make, as a complement to councils' existing recruitment activity.

With impressive results, an external evaluation has found that across all channels the pilot campaign achieved more than 17 million impressions and generated more than 105,000 clicks to the North East Jobs portal, resulting in a 9% year-on-year increase in applications. Research respondents also reported a more positive perception of their local council as an employer and expressed increased openness to job opportunities.

Following the successful pilot in the North East, the Government has funded the national roll-out of the campaign to all regions. The campaign has been developed in partnership with the Regional Employers' Organisations and refined with councils across all regions for expansion on a national scale.

With a renewed focus to showcase the diverse roles available in local government, the national campaign will highlight four key areas of work where councils face the greatest recruitment challenges, including children's social care, planning, environmental health and finance.

This focus has been strengthened through the creation of new imagery, videos and audio with individuals working in these areas, providing a personalised touch to the campaign, featuring real-life voices from the sector that represent the communities councils serve.

The national roll-out has also considered how to improve the ease at which people can find opportunities in local government, resulting in the development of a new website. Once live in November, the campaign website will enable job seekers to easily access information about jobs in their local council, neighbouring councils and councils in their region, through a simple postcode search which will link to councils' jobs pages. With hundreds of jobs in varying roles across the country, there are roles to suit all levels of experience, skills, and ambitions.

The campaign brand has been designed with a flexibility for councils to adopt locally, to enhance and complement existing local recruitment activity. A comprehensive toolkit will be provided to all councils, including campaign materials that can be adapted for local use.

Councils and partners can utilise the free digital resources available to promote the campaign within their local area, while also increasing the impact of the campaign across the nation. For this campaign to truly make an impact, we need every council to get behind it. The more councils that participate, the stronger our collective voice will be, and the more effective we'll be at driving real change across the regions, and nationally.

This campaign not only highlights the breadth and diversity of careers available but also reinforces the positive impact that working in local government can have, offering unparalleled opportunities to make a real difference in people's lives.

It is great way to grow a career and we're thrilled to extend this campaign nationwide, to encourage talented individuals across the country to join their local council in delivering the vital services their communities use and rely on every day.

Cllr Abi Brown OBE is chairman of the LGA's Improvement and Innovation Board and Steve Guest is director of executive recruitment and assessment at Solace

● For more information, please contact makeadifference@local.gov.uk or speak to us at the Solace Summit this week and the LGA Conference (22-24 October) to find out more about the campaign, which launches on 4 November