At the end of last week, the PRCA announced the first set of winners for its DARE Awards programme. Entrants in the North of England and in the Scotland and Northern Ireland were honoured at events in Leeds and Edinburgh.

Standout winners in the Scottish capital were the Scottish Government’s drinking habits campaign and Porter Novelli’s wide-reaching effort for St Andrew’s First Aid, the Scottish sibling to St John’s Ambulance. Angela Casey, MD of CM Porter Novelli says the win was a reflection of the agency’s ability to overcoming the challenges faced in the campaign.

“We were able to capture people’s imaginations. A lot of people think about safety with fireworks, but they don’t think about what to do if something goes wrong,” Casey says. “We provided advice on what to do if something goes wrong and raised awareness of first aid.” She adds that the quirky ‘Caped CrusAIDers’ were able to engage with people about the importance of life-saving first aid on bonfire night.

At the Leeds event, Weber Shandwick and divisions of Havas both took home two gongs. Grayling UK’s CEO Alison Clarke said in her keynote that the audiences PR must address are expanding. The DARE awards thus honour those who can best meet the demands of the changing industry.

Casey says of the DARE programme, “It was important for us to support the awards in their first year. The award is sitting in the office now and we keep smiling about it. It’s nice for the team to get some recognition for their work.”

The remaining regions will be announced on the following days:

South East: Slough, 26 June

South East & Wales: Bristol, 27 June

Midlands: Birmingham, 28 June