As 2025 draws to a close and Christmas approaches, we’ve embraced the festive spirit this December. It has been a chance to reflect on a wonderful year, the growth of an amazing team, and the spectacular work we’ve achieved together.
To round off the year, some of the Collective Wisdom team gathered for our Christmas party at London Bridge Rooftop’s Après Ski bar. With twinkling lights, alpine vibes and plenty of prosecco, we raised a glass to celebrate a fantastic year together and to look forward to all that’s to come in 2026. It was the perfect way to toast our achievements and kick off the festive season.
Our client Golden Tours launched the The Snowman™ Afternoon Tea Bus Tour, a bespoke sightseeing journey across London filled with tasty afternoon tea treats and festive music. The bus tour partnered with the 28th production of The Snowman™ stage show at The Peacock theatre, bringing to life the nationally treasured Christmas film of the same name. Our focus was securing London based coverage and family/parenting titles, this included previews and listings in Secret London, London World, Let’s Go with the Children and Seen in the City, alongside first hand reviews from This is Local London and NetMums.
It was another great month for our client Spiracle Audiobooks as they won Best Audiobook: Fiction at the inaugural British Audio Awards (The Speakies), with their production of All My Precious Madness by Mark Bowles, narrated by Paul Hilton, audiobook of the week in The Guardian. All My Precious Madness is available as an audiobook in a card, the perfect stocking filler according to The Times.
Northern Irish poet, Tom Paulin, was announced as the winner of the 2025 PEN Heaney Prize for his book Namanlagh, a collection of poetry which revisits themes of place, occupation, conflict and legacy, primarily in the context of his native Northern Ireland. The win received wide spread coverage across literary outlets such as The Bookseller, BookBrunch, and Library Journal and Irish media, including The Irish Times, Irish Central and RTÉ.ie, with poet Sean Hewitt discussing the collection on RTÉ Radio 1.
It was great to be back at HOME in Manchester to kick off our work with Manchester Culture and Creativity in Place. Through co-production, capacity building and cultural commissioning, the programme, funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, aims to support the growth of the cultural sector in North Manchester and Wythenshawe. We had an inspiring morning learning about the cultural richness of the two areas. Find out more at www.wythenshawerising.co.uk and www.shoutoutnorthmanc.co.uk
Blueprint for Free Speech announced the winners of the 2025 Blueprint for Free Speech Whistleblowing Prizes. Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn‑Williams, author of Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work, picked up the Asia-Pacific Prize. Since the publication of her book, which is a critical account of Facebook’s internal culture and decision-making practices during her time there, the social media giant obtained an arbitration ruling preventing her from promoting or speaking about the book.
Other recipients included Virginia Laparra, who prosecuted corruption in Guatemala and faced imprisonment and repeated retaliation; Julio Rogelio Viteri Ungaretti, who exposed corruption in Ecuador’s armed forces and was forced into exile before his case was recognised decades later; Nnamdi Emeh, who revealed abuses within the Nigerian police and remains jailed despite a court order granting bail; Tumiso Mphuthi, who uncovered corruption at a South African training institution and has been suspended from her job for two years; and Pamela Mabini, who bravely supported witnesses in a sexual assault trial in South Africa and was tragically killed earlier this year.
For the 2025 prizes Collective Wisdom worked with Blueprint for Free Speech on their social media channels, driving further engagement and overall reach. LinkedIn alone saw an 652% increase in engagements alongside a rise in website views.
Croydon Council celebrated Christmas in style with their annual ‘A Very Croydon Christmas’. From traditional carol concerts featuring ceilidh dancing to interactive installations like DJ Frietmachine, where visitors could make music by creating their own fries. Street theatre, craft workshops, and The Living Snow Globe, brought festive joy to families across the borough. We secured listings in local media such as East London Lines, Croydonist and London Daily News, alongside working with Time Out and City Kids for a paid promotion through newsletters and social media.
The London Mozart Players kicked off the festive season this week with their Christmas Brass Spectacular at Smith Square Hall. The orchestra performed alongside the Croydon SDA Gospel Choir and Tiffin Choirs in a high‑energy concert, filling the hall with carols, festive classics, immersive lighting and joyful audience participation. We secured listings in outlets such as Bachtrack, Culture Calling and the Londonist.
