Introduction to Every Story Matters and the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is the independent public inquiry set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and learn lessons for the future. In order to fully understand the impact of the pandemic on the UK population, the Inquiry is inviting the public to share their experiences of the pandemic by launching Every Story Matters – an opportunity for everyone that wishes to, to contribute to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Every Story Matters will inform the Inquiry’s work by gathering pandemic experiences which can be brought together and represent the whole of the UK, including those seldom heard. The output of Every Story Matters will be a unique, comprehensive account of the UK population’s experiences of the pandemic, to be submitted to the Inquiry’s legal process as evidence.
Every Story Matters aims to provide inclusive methods for people to talk about their experience of the pandemic, so anyone that wants to share their story feels heard, valued, and can contribute to the Inquiry.
Find out more about Every Story Matters.
How your members can participate in Every Story Matters
The following listening methods are available for the people that you represent to participate in Every Story Matters by sharing their experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate. We are continuing to develop more listening methods and will provide updates via our newsletter on when these will become available.
The primary listening method is the online form in English and Welsh.
Accessible options:
The following accessible options are available from the Inquiry directly. Individuals can email contact@covid19.public-inquiry.uk or write to FREEPOST, UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry:
- Easy Read – Every Story Matters is available in Easy Read format:
‘About Every Story Matters’ in Easy Read
Every Story Matters – Easy Read form for post
Every Story Matters – Easy Read form for email
- Paper form and Braille are available upon request, please email us at contact@covid19.public-inquiry.uk for more information.
- British Sign Language – More information on Every Story Matters in BSL can be found here. The Inquiry are currently exploring accepting submissions to Every Story Matters in BSL and will have more information soon.
- Other languages – The form is available in Welsh, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Chinese, Kurdish, Somali, and Tagalog.
- Telephone and Language Line – available late Summer.
- Community listening events – due to take place nationwide later this year.
Useful to know:
Under 18s
At present, you must be aged 18 or over to share your experience through Every Story Matters. The Inquiry is aware of the importance of understanding the experience of young people during the pandemic. The Inquiry is currently designing an effective way of engaging with children and young people and will provide updates on our website and social media.
Scotland
If you are sharing an experience that happened in Scotland, please note that the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry is also gathering people’s experiences. You can share with the UK Inquiry, the Scottish Inquiry, or both.
Partner support
If you foresee that your audience will require a large volume of paper form submissions or you require additional support to help your audiences participate, please contact the Inquiry team on contact@covid19.public-inquiry.uk.
Please subscribe to our newsletter or visit our social media or News page to get the latest updates.
Working in partnership
We want to encourage as many people as possible to share their experiences of the pandemic.
Your support in helping to engage different communities, especially those significantly impacted by the pandemic is really important to us, so we’ve created a range of resources to make it as easy as possible for you.
Please help us spread the message of Every Story Matters far and wide, by using the resources in this toolkit across your channels. Together, we can encourage lots of different people to come forward and share their stories. Not only will this help inform the recommendations of the Inquiry, but these stories will provide a record of the Covid-19 pandemic for future generations.
Every Story Matters communications activity
To help us reach those who have been most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and help them participate in Every Story Matters, campaign assets, messaging and media outputs have been split into three phases of targeted communications activity.
The campaign will commence on the 13th June and run throughout the summer across radio, print, outdoor, social and digital channels.
Phase One – PRIME
The prime phase focuses on broad reach activity to drive awareness and build trust in Every Story Matters, ensuring that the general public feel they have had the opportunity to contribute to the listening exercise. It is likely to encourage those with lower barriers to participation to engage. Prime imagery includes generic imagery to appeal to a broad range of audiences.
Phase Two – PARTICIPATE
Participate motivates participation in Every Story Matters by ensuring people feel their contribution will be valued. Personal messaging and imagery designed to resonate with different audiences and address specific audience barriers to engagement, e.g. barriers of relevance and disenfranchisement.
Phase Three – PROMPT
Motivates audiences with low engagement with Every Story Matters and prompts completion of the online form.
Every Story Matters partner assets
Creative assets have been specifically developed for each of these three phases and are available to you to help drive awareness of Every Story Matters and engage with your audience through your own channels e.g. newsletters, social media, print.
- Assets are available to download as part of this toolkit.
- Easy Read assets will be available in due course.
Ready to use assets
We have provided a suite of ready to use assets for easy implementation through social media and print.
Assets that you can adapt and edit
If you would like to adapt the assets to better engage with your audiences, editable assets are available as open working files with suggested copy and guidelines for use.
Please note that only the single image assets and copy can be edited, collage imagery and template design cannot be edited.
Creative assets and how to use them
Creative assets
Please find the following assets available for use across your channels.
Download the full asset library in English (3.67GB)
Download the full asset library in English and Welsh (2.7GB)
Alternatively, select specific assets available below to download separately.
- Print collateral
- Ready to use
- 6 x A4 / A5 hero collage image (1 x prime, 4 x participate, 1 x prompt)
- Editable
- 1 x A4 / A5 single image template and suggested headline copy
- Ready to use
- Social media assets for use across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X
- Ready to use
- 6 x 1:1 collage Social media posts (1 x prime, 4 x participate, 1 x prompt)
- 6 x 9:16 collage Social media Facebook / Instagram story only (1 x prime, 4 x participate, 1 x prompt)
- Editable
- 1 x 1:1 single Image Social media post template and suggested headline copy
- 1 x 9:16 single Image Social media Facebook / Instagram story template and suggested headline copy
- Ready to use
- Newsletter header – Editable
- Every Story Matters logo
- Image library (538.7MB)
- Suggested key messaging for use or adaptation
Print collateral – ready to use
Please find the following assets available for use across your channels.
Ready to use assets cannot be adapted.
Prime
1 x A4 poster
1 x A5 flyer
If you don’t see images of those you represent here, we have provided lots of editable resources later in the toolkit for you to tailor to engage with your audiences through your own voice and channels.
Download Prime files in English (2.6MB)
Download Prime files in English and Welsh (3.4MB)
Participate
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4 x A4 posters
4 x A5 flyers
If you don’t see images of those you represent here, we have provided lots of editable resources later in the toolkit for you to tailor to engage with your audiences through your own voice and channels.
Download Participate files in English (8.8MB)
Download Participate files in English and Welsh (9.7MB)
Prompt
1 x A4 poster
1 x A5 flyer
If you don’t see images of those you represent here, we have provided lots of editable resources later in the toolkit for you to tailor to engage with your audiences through your own voice and channels.
Download Prompt files in English (2.6MB)
Download Prompt files in English and Welsh (2.4MB)
Print collateral – editable
Please find the following assets available for use across your channels.
- 1 x A4 / A5 single image template
- Alternative headlines and calls to action below
- Image library (538.7MB) – we understand that the people you represent may not be included within our image bank, and we welcome you to use an owned image that speaks to your community.
Please note that only the image and copy can be edited within this asset. Template design cannot be amended.
Download Editable print collateral in English (1.88GB)
Download Editable print collateral in English and Welsh (1.97GB)
All edited assets are to be shared with design@covid19.public-inquiry.uk for approval at least 1 week prior to publication.
Alternative headline messaging and calls to action
The following messaging and calls to action have been developed and extensively tested with focus groups to understand different audiences’ understanding, response and sentiment towards the messaging.
Prime
Initial messaging to engage with your audience and drive awareness:
- Every story matters.
- Your story matters.
- Our story matters.
- The pandemic. Help the Inquiry see the full picture.
Participate
Motivational, personal messaging to drive participation.
- The Inquiry needs to hear our story.
- Our experience deserves to be heard.
- Covid affected our community. Our story can affect the Inquiry.
- I’ll share what I went through for my community.
- Too painful to talk about. Too important not to.
- I’ll share my experience. Because some memories should not be forgotten.
- Your story is valuable. More so than you might think.
Prompt
Reinforcing messaging that encourages participation and urgency in a sensitive way.
- There’s still time to share your story.
Calls to action
- Share your experience of the pandemic to inform the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at everystorymatters.co.uk.
- Search: Every Story Matters.
Social media handles
In order to help track the success of Every Story Matters and drive further awareness and reach, please tag The UK Covid-19 Inquiry and use the Every Story Matters hashtag in all social media communications.
Primary Hashtag: #EveryStoryMatters
LinkedIn: @uk-covid-19-inquiry
Instagram: @ukcovid19inquiry
Social media assets – Ready to use
Please find the following assets available for use across your channels.
Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X Social media posts
1 x Prime – 1:1 Ready to use collage social media post
4 x Participate – 1:1 Ready to use collage social media posts (4 x audiences)
1 x Prompt – 1:1 Ready to use collage social media post
Facebook, X and LinkedIn posts can be linked directly to the online form: everystorymatters.co.uk
Instagram feed posts cannot be linked and we would suggest placing the link in your Instagram profile bio.
Guidance on adding a link to your profile bio (Opens in a new tab)
Instagram / Facebook Social media stories
1 x Prime – 9:16 Ready to use collage social media story
4 x Participate – 9:16 Ready to use collage social media stories (4 x audiences)
1 x Prompt – 9:16 Ready to use collage social media story
Instagram and Facebook stories can be linked directly to the online form: everystorymatters.co.uk
Guidance on how to place a link sticker in your story (Opens in a new tab)
Ready to use assets cannot be adapted.
Social media assets – Ready to use – 1:1
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Participate
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Download Ready to use 1:1 social media assets in English (3.1MB)
Download Ready to use 1:1 social media assets in English and Welsh (3MB)
Social media assets – Ready to use – 9:16
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Participate
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Download Ready to use 9:16 social media assets in English (4.1MB)
Download Ready to use 9:16 social media assets in English and Welsh (4.4MB)
Social media assets – editable
Please find the following assets available for use across your channels.
1 x 1:1 Editable single image social media post template
1 x 9:16 Editable single image social media story template
We understand that the people you represent may not be included within our image bank, and we welcome you to use an owned image that speaks to your community. Please note that only the image and copy can be edited within this asset. Template design cannot be amended.
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Download Editable social media assets in English (1.17GB)
Download Editable social media assets in English and Welsh (116.9MB)
All edited assets are to be shared with design@covid19.public-inquiry.uk for approval at least 1 week prior to publication.
Social media suggested post copy
The below has been created as suggested copy only. This copy can be used and adapted as needed to speak to your audience through your own voice and channels.
Facebook example post copy
We were all affected by the pandemic in different ways. Every Story Matters is a chance to share your thoughts, feelings and experiences of the pandemic. Every experience shared will feed into the independent and impartial investigations being run by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Your stories will help the Inquiry to better understand the impact of Covid-19 and shape future recommendations for generations to come. Share your experience of the pandemic to inform the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at everystorymatters.co.uk #everystorymatters
Instagram example post copy
Covid affected our community. Our story can affect the Inquiry. Every Story Matters is your chance to share your experience of the pandemic with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Your story will help the UK Covid-19 Inquiry better understand how the UK was impacted by the pandemic. Every story shared will be used to shape the Inquiry’s investigations. Share your experience of the pandemic to inform the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at everystorymatters.co.uk #everystorymatters
LinkedIn example post copy
Every Story Matters is your chance to share your experience of the pandemic. Every unique account will be collated, analysed and turned into themed reports that will feed into the UK Covid-19 Inquiry as evidence. With your story, the Inquiry can build a full picture of how the UK was affected and shape recommendations for the future. So, as hard as it may be to tell, it couldn’t be more important. Share your experience of the pandemic to inform the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at everystorymatters.co.uk #everystorymatters
X example post copy
Every Story Matters is your chance to share your experience of the pandemic. Every story shared will feed into the independent investigations being run by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Share your experience to inform the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at everystorymatters.co.uk #everystorymatters
Alternative headline messaging and calls to action
The following messaging and calls to action have been developed and extensively tested with focus groups to understand different audiences understanding, response and sentiment towards the messaging.
Prime
Initial messaging to engage with your audience and drive awareness:
- Every story matters.
- Your story matters.
- Our story matters.
- The Pandemic. Help the Inquiry see the full picture.
Participate
Motivational, personal messaging to drive participation.
- The Inquiry needs to hear our story.
- Our experience deserves to be heard.
- Covid affected our community. Our story can affect the Inquiry.
- I’ll share what I went through for my community.
- Too painful to talk about. Too important not to.
- I’ll share my experience. Because some memories should not be forgotten.
- Your story is valuable. More so than you might think.
Prompt
Reinforcing messaging that encourages participation and urgency.
- There’s still time to share your story.
Calls to action
- Share your experience of the pandemic to inform the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at everystorymatters.co.uk.
- Search: Every Story Matters.
Newsletter header – editable
Please find the following assets available for use across your channels.
1 x static desktop newsletter header
Newsletter/Blog longform suggested copy
Please note that only the copy can be edited within this asset.
Download Newsletter header (79.3MB)
All edited assets are to be shared with design@covid19.public-inquiry.uk for approval at least 1 week prior to publication.
Newsletter/blog longform suggested copy
The below has been created as suggested copy only. This copy can be used and adapted as needed to speak to your audience through your own voice and channels.
The Pandemic. Our experiences deserve to be heard.
Help shape the independent UK Covid-19 Inquiry by sharing your story.
Covid affected our community. That’s why we’ve partnered with the independent and impartial UK Covid-19 Inquiry to help our readers to share their unique experiences of the pandemic and ensure the Inquiry sees the full picture.
The pandemic affected every single person in the UK and had an especially big impact on communities like ours. This is your opportunity to share the impact it had on you. Your story can help to inform the Inquiry’s investigations and give you the chance to share what you think could be learned, what could have been done better, or differently, or if something was done well.
What is the UK Covid-19 Inquiry?
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is the public inquiry set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the pandemic. The Inquiry is independent from the government and is completely impartial.
It is inviting the UK public to share their experiences of the pandemic, launching ‘Every Story Matters’ as an opportunity for everyone who wishes to, to be able to contribute their story to the Inquiry
Why should I share my experience with the Inquiry?
The Inquiry wants to hear from as many people as possible, from different communities across the UK, and especially those most significantly impacted, like ours.
We know some experiences are painful to talk about, and sometimes it’s difficult thinking back, but the Inquiry needs to hear from our community. Your unique and individual experience is valuable, more so than you might think, as it will help the Inquiry to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on communities like ours.
How can I share my experience?
By searching ‘Every Story Matters’ (or using the link below) you will be taken to a short online form that allows you to submit your experience of the pandemic.
Stories will be collated, analysed and turned into themed reports, which will be submitted into each relevant investigation as evidence. The reports will be anonymised.
Support
Help is available if you need it. Sharing your experience may trigger some difficult feelings and emotions. If you need help please see a list of support services: everystorymatters.co.uk.
Measuring success
It is very important that we understand if those who were disproportionately affected by the pandemic have heard about the opportunity to share their stories. To help us understand your audience’s participation and perception of Every Story Matters, it would be really useful for you to share any data, engagement or sentiment from your channel activity where possible. This will help us see the fuller picture and keep the campaign moving forward. To support you we have provided a guide on the key metrics that will help you understand the performance of your Every Story Matters toolkit activity.
Examples of data, engagement or sentiment:
- Reach across your channels e.g. Newsletter, social media, webpage.
- Audience feedback and insights
- Audience sentiment towards Every Story Matters
- Traffic (click through rate) through to Inquiry online form
- Social activity – comments, likes, shares
Our key aim is to encourage the audience to share their experiences of the pandemic via the Every Story Matters online form and other accessible formats provided. Any comments or experiences shared via social media cannot be captured and therefore will not feed into the Inquiry’s reporting. For that reason, where possible, we will be limiting comments on all of our advertising.
Please share any feedback to: contact@covid19.public-inquiry.uk.
Organic social metrics
Organic social metrics measure the performance of non-paid content and activity, helping assess audience engagement, content quality, and overall strategy effectiveness without paid ads.
Visibility
| Metric | Definition |
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| Impressions | Number of times content is displayed, regardless of clicks or engagement |
| Reach | Unique users who see a specific piece of content |
Engagement
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Engagement | Total interactions on a post, including likes, comments, shares, and clicks |
| Engagement Rate | Engagement divided by total followers, measuring content effectiveness |
| Shares | Number of times content is shared by users to their network |
| Likes | Number of users who show appreciation for a post by clicking the like button |
| Comments | Number of user-written responses to a post, often indicating higher engagement |
| Mentions | Instances where users tag or reference your account in their posts |
| Hashtag Performance | Effectiveness and reach of branded or campaign-specific hashtags |
Follower
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Follower Growth | Increase in an account’s total followers over time |
Video
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Video Views | Number of times a video has been watched |
| Video View Duration | Average amount of time users spend watching a video |
Stories
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Story Views | Number of times a user views an Instagram or Snapchat story |
| Story Completion Rate | Percentage of users who view all segments of a story |
Save and Profile
| Metric | Definition |
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| Saves | Number of users who save content for later viewing or reference |
| Profile Visits | Number of users who navigate to an account’s profile page |
Referral
| Metric | Definition |
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| Referral Traffic | Amount of website traffic generated from social media platforms |
Content
| Metric | Definition |
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| Top Content | Highest-performing posts or content in terms of engagement and reach |
Newsletter metrics
In newsletter and alternative content publishing metrics, we’ll cover measuring the performance of your email newsletter, and opportunities outside of email to publish and measure content effectively.
Delivery
| Metric | Definition |
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| Delivery Rate | Percentage of sent emails that successfully reach recipients’ inboxes |
| Bounce Rate | Percentage of sent emails that fail to reach recipients due to invalid addresses or other issues |
Engagement
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Open Rate | Percentage of recipients who open the email newsletter |
| Click-Through Rate (CTR) | Percentage of recipients who click on a link within the email |
| Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR) | Percentage of opened emails where a link is clicked, measuring content engagement |
| Forward Rate (CTR) | Percentage of recipients who share the email newsletter with others |
Subscribers
| Metric | Definition |
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| Unsubscribe Rate | Percentage of recipients who opt out of the mailing list after receiving an email |
| Spam Complaint Rate | Percentage of recipients who mark the email as spam |
| List Growth Rate | Percentage increase in the number of subscribers over time |
Conversions
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Conversions | Total number of completions of a desired action (e.g., purchase, sign-up) after clicking a link in the email |
| Conversion Rate | Percentage of recipients who complete a desired action |
| List Growth Rate | Percentage increase in the number of subscribers over time |
Paid social media metrics
Partners are not expected to run paid
advertising for Every Story Matters. However, If you have credits available, or are interested in paid social, we have provided paid social media metrics.
Visibility
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ad Impressions | Number of times a paid ad is displayed to users |
| Ad Reach | Number of unique users (individuals) who see a paid ad |
| Ad Frequency | Average number of times a user sees the same ad |
Engagement
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ad Clicks | Total number of clicks on a paid ad |
| Click-Through Rate (CTR) | Percentage of users who click on a paid ad after seeing it |
| Ad Engagement | Interactions on a paid post, including likes, comments, shares, and clicks |
| Ad Engagement Rate | Ad engagement divided by total ad impressions, measuring ad content effectiveness |
| Conversions | Desired actions taken by users as a result of clicking on a paid ad (e.g., sales, sign-ups) |
Video
| Metric | Definition |
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| Video Views | Number of times a promoted or sponsored video has been watched. The definition of a view can vary between platforms, e.g Facebook counts a video view after 3 seconds whereas YouTube is 30 seconds |
| 75% Video Views | The percentage of total Video Views which reached at least 75% of the video’s duration, e.g 3 mins, 45 seconds of a 5 minute video. This is a more meaningful engagement with video content than a simple Video View |
| View Rate | The percentage of users who watch a paid video ad (counted as Video Views) compared to the total number of impressions delivered |
Cost
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cost Per Click (CPC) | Average amount spent for each click on a paid ad |
| Cost Per Mille (CPM) | Average amount spent for every 1,000 ad impressions |
| Cost Per Engagement (CPE) | Average amount spent for each user engagement on a paid ad |
| Cost Per Conversion | Average amount spent for each conversion resulting from a paid ad |
Campaign
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ad Performance | Comparison of different ad creatives or formats to determine which performs better. |
Further resources and contact
Thank you for your support of Every Story Matters and helping to engage different communities, especially those most impacted by the pandemic.
Your contributions are so important in informing the recommendations of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and providing a record of the Covid-19 pandemic for future generations.
If you have any specific questions or require further information, please contact contact@covid19.public-inquiry.uk.