St Wilfrid's Procession

I have been involved with and a serving committee member on the St Wilfrid's Procession Committee since being approached and invited to join in March 2019.  In September 2021, I was elected by the committee to take over the marketing and communications role for the foreseeable future and to design and ultimately develop an entirely bespoke website for the procession to increase the event's online presence.

The website was developed across January & February 2022 and finally became live in April 2022 following the implementation and testing of bespoke features such as the in-built email system that sends any contact form submissions to the relevant email address depending on the subject line and page.

Designed to be easy to use and edit for future committee members who may join the marketing team, the website launch has been a huge success with increasing amounts of traffic accessing the site to download the entry pack and learn how to design and create the ultimate float.

In addition to the website, I have been responsible for designing, creating & implementing the corresponding Social Media campaign with branded content scheduled to post at least twice a week until the date of the procession, from where posts will continue but in a more limited capacity until the build up for 2023's event.

The biggest challenge, however facing me has been the design of branded posters, the official entry pack, banners, booklets and other collateral to market the procession and reflect our extremely generous sponsors.

A Brief History of The Event   Held on either the last Saturday of July or the first Saturday in August each year, the St Wilfrid's Procession is a unique event that was traditionally held to mark the feast of St Wilfrid. The origins of the procession are rumoured to date back to around 1108 when King Henry 1st granted a royal charter to the City Of Ripon to hold an annual fair in honour of a patron saint, although it is debatable whether it was to honour St Wilfrid or St Peter but due to the annual feast being held, it is more likely to be the former. Over the past 50 years, the procession has gone from strength to strength, survived a global pandemic that has seen it cancelled in the traditional sense twice & attracted attention from all over the world with entrants travelling from as far as Australia & the United States of America to take part. With the end of the pandemic hopefully in sight and with it being the Platinum Jubilee year for Queen Elizabeth II, there has never been a better excuse to party. This year the procession is back with a BANG!