At the annual glittering gala for the best in public relations, the PRCA Awards’ top campaign winners both went to non-profit organisations. The ‘Campaign of the year’ award was given to Age UK for its work on the 2015 Christmas campaign – rocketed into the spotlight by John Lewis’ man on the moon. The consultancy winner for the same award was MHP/Engine for its ‘Missing Type’ campaign, run alongside the British Heart Foundation.

Age UK also took home the ‘Not for profit/charity’ award and MHP/Engine nabbed the ‘Public sector, value for money’ gong.

In the evening’s other premier categories, Instinctif Partners, which won ‘Consultancy of the year’ at September’s Corporate & Financial Awards, secured the ‘Large consultancy of the year’ prize. The other consultancy winners were Hope&Glory, Another World Communications and the Romans. Teams from Direct Line Group and the National Trust won the top prizes in the in-house categories.

Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA, says, “Year on year I am impressed by the ingenuity and passion that are displayed by the winning campaigns, teams, and individuals. The PRCA National Awards highlight and celebrate the very best that the PR and communications industry has to offer.”

Many of the winners were campaigns or programmes that had a social awareness element. Even one of the consumer awards went to the ‘Missing Type’ campaign. This, perhaps, is a move indicating the increasing responsibility public relations has over organisational reputation and public perception.

Ingham, in his address at the beginning of the evening, said the PRCA would be launching its continuing professional development scheme before the year’s end and called for the PRCA to speak for a unified public relations industry in the UK. The PRCA also recognises excellence in regional PR through its annual PRCA DARE Awards. Entries open for the 2017 programme in February and winners will be announced in Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.

The full list of winners is as follows:

• Automotive Award - Consultancy: Tin Man - Pulling Power: Giving Advanced Driving Courses Sex Appeal
• Automotive Award - In-house: Co-operative - Revving reaction for motor insurance
• Broadcast Award: Mischief – Shed of the Year
  b2b Award: Atomic PR – BrexitScience
• Consumer Award - Consultancy - High Budget: MHP/Engine - Missing Type
• Consumer Award - Consultancy - Low Budget: Pegasus - Sex Degrees of Separation
• Consumer Award - In-house: Experian - Me & My Money
• Corporate, Financial and Investor Relations Award - Consultancy: Golin - 52 Weeks of Worldpay
• Corporate, Financial and Investor Relations Award - In-house: Co-operative - Co-op Funeralcare: A new generation of apprentices
• Corporate Social Responsibility Award - Consultancy: Weber Shandwick - Project Literacy, The Alphabet of Illiteracy
• Corporate Social Responsibility Award - In-house: Starbucks Coffee Company - Red Cup Cheer
• Crisis and Issues Management Award - Consultancy: Powerscourt - Supporting International Investors in the Greek Banks
• Crisis and Issues Management Award - In-house: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home – Dangerous Dogs
• Digital and New Media Award - Consultancy: Red Consultancy - Stephen Fry's Welcome to the UK
• Digital and New Media Award - In-house: National Trust – Writing the Nation’s Ode to the Coast
• Employee Engagement Award - Consultancy: Gong Communications - Dive in: The Festival for Diversity and Inclusion in Insurance
• Employee Engagement Award - In-house: O2 - A Year of Celebration
  Health and Wellbeing Award: Pegasus - Sex Degrees of Separation
• International Campaign Award - Consultancy: Brands2Life - Bring in Your Parents #BIYP
• International Campaign Award - In-house: Vodafone Group - #BeStrong Anti-bullying Emojis
• Media Relations Award - Consultancy: Hope&Glory - Creating a Springboard onto the Household Ladder
• Media Relations Award - In-house: Direct Line Group - A Storming Success
• Not-For-Profit and Charity Award - Consultancy: Weber Shandwick - ActionAid, Washed Away
• Not-For-Profit and Charity Award - In-house: Age UK - No one should have no one at Christmas (highly commended: British Heart Foundation - The Heart Attack Experience)
• Public Sector, Value for Money Award - Consultancy: MHP/Engine - Missing Type
• Public Sector, Value for Money Award In-house: Westminster City Council - Real Change
• Technology Award - Consultancy: Cow - Keep Believing in Santa
• Technology Award - In-house: Vodafone Group - Vodafone’s Digital Library
• Specialist Consultancy of the Year: Pegasus (highly commended: DawBell PR)
• International Consultancy of the Year: Porter Novelli
• Young Communicator of the Year: Michael Rennett, AxiCom
• In-house Professional of the Year: Claire Foster, Direct Line Group
• Consultancy Head of the Year Award: Frankie Cory, Mischief
• Campaign of the Year Award - Consutlancy: MHP/Engine - Missing Type
• Campaign of the Year -In-house: Age UK - No one should have no one at Christmas
• In-house Team of the Year – Private Sector: Direct Line Group
• In-house Team of the Year – Public Sector: National Trust
• Large Consultancy of the Year: Instinctif Partners
• Medium Consultancy of the Year: Hope&Glory
• New Consultancy of the Year: Another Word Communications
• Small Consultancy of the Year: The Romans