Amplifying traditional storytelling to sector-wide influence

Client: Huntingdonshire District Council | Public Sector

Campaigns, Engagement, Local government, Strategy

The challenge

Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) set out to reduce carbon emissions across the organisation, piloting a project that cut fleet emissions by over 80%. They achieved this by switching their entire pool fleet of 95 vehicles from fossil diesel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). While other councils had made similar changes, HDC took a more ambitious approach. They invited local blue light services to join both the pilot and the rollout.

They asked for our help to tell a story that would celebrate this cross-public sector partnership and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and innovation. We saw an opportunity to take things further – amplifying from traditional storytelling to sector-wide influence, and building on something already at the heart of the project: collaboration.

Our approach

We started by building a central “story kit” to anchor all communications. This was developed through interviews with the council and their partners in the police and fire service, capturing both the technical detail and the shared ambition behind the project.

To bring the story to life, we commissioned professional photography of all three partner fleets refuelling, creating a strong visual symbol of collaboration in action.

We then planned and delivered an initial celebration event, giving HDC senior leaders the opportunity to thank partners directly and formally mark the success of the trial.

From this foundation, we created:

• a press-ready partnership story for local media
• a detailed case study for trade and industry press

With both the police and fire service sharing the story through their own channels, the campaign achieved 16 pieces of coverage across local and sector media.

We built on this momentum by planning with a second, larger stakeholder event, designed to share learning and spark interest from other councils and public sector organisations. This opened up new conversations with organisations with whom the council had not previously engaged.

Crucially, we repositioned the project from a simple fuel switch to something far more powerful: a live example of cross-sector collaboration driving practical progress towards decarbonisation.

Impact

Collaboration sat at the heart of this project and became its most powerful outcome.

Alongside strong media coverage, the campaign helped position HDC not just as a council reducing emissions, but as a facilitator of wider change.

The trial sparked new conversations around shared infrastructure, training and future partnership working, strengthening relationships across the region and opening the door to further innovation.

Reducing emissions at scale is worth celebrating. But what this project really demonstrated is what becomes possible when organisations actively work together to solve shared challenges.

Orchestrated by Keystone as a proven connector and facilitator across organisations, HDC enabled partners to align around a shared story and highlighted the impact of the project beyond the council itself.