THE East of England Development Agency is celebrating after it scooped a host of awards at the regional PR industry 'oscars', including the top honour.

THE East of England Development Agency is celebrating after it scooped a host of awards at the regional PR industry 'oscars', including the top honour.

The Agency's communications team took five awards at this year's regional Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide awards, while urban regeneration company 1st East took two for its consultation with Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

The University of Essex Students' Union struck gold in two categories, while Essex Police took first place in the public sector programme category for its neighbourhood policing campaign.

There were record entries for the awards, which was attended by 130 people and took place at the De Vere Dunston Hall in Norwich on Thursday . There were 50% more entries in the East Anglian region compared to last year, with 18 shortlisted organisations across 17 categories, while nationally, 1292 entries were received.

“The awards showcase PR at its best, and the standard of this year's entries in East Anglia was exceptionally high, demonstrating that the PR industry in our region is flourishing. The competition was tough and to win is a tremendous achievement,” said CIPR East Anglia chair SueWilcock.

EEDA took three golds, one silver and the prestigious Grand Prix award for the best campaign in the region for its Independent Performance Assessment survival campaign, which scooped the gold award in the Use of Internal Communication category.

Rachel Bosworth, EEDA's director of communications, said she was “extremely pleased” an independent judging panel recognised their “excellent” work at EEDA.

“It is good to know that the effectiveness of our campaigns and the work that EEDA performs across the East of England has been so highly praised,” she said.

EEDA's Running the Gauntlet competition, offering regional businesses a chance to pitch for up to £1million in investment funding, won the gold Business to Business Campaign award, and the silver Integrated PR Campaign award. Judges said it was an “effectively integrated campaign”.

The Agency's campaign to challenge migrant workers myths took gold in the In-House Campaign award, which judges described as “carefully planned and well researched”.

1st East struck gold in the Community Campaign category, and took a silver in the Charity/Not for Profit section for its Have Your Say campaign.

“We liked the inclusiveness of the campaign, in particular tapes for visually impaired people and materials for ethnic minorities. A video vox pop allowed people to see that their views were taken seriously,” judges commented.

“We could not have achieved this award without the support of the community who turned out to have their say in some of the coldest weather of the year,” said Carol Holland, director of marketing at 1st East.

Paul Dickson, PR consultant at ISIS Communications, received an award for Outstanding Contribution to the CIPR East Anglia region.

The CIPR East Anglia winners were: Grand Prix: EEDA, Survival Campaign; Charity or Non-Profit Campaign gold award: University of Essex Students' Union, Freshers Campaign; silver award: 1st East, Have Your Say; Integrated PR Campaign gold award: Essex County Council, The Essex Book Festival 2006; silver award: EEDA, Running the Gauntlet 2005; Business-to-Business Campaign gold award: EEDA, Running the Gauntlet 2005; silver award: Totally Dynamic, It's a Wrap!; Community Campaign gold award: 1st East, Have Your Say; silver award: Black Pig Design Company, Launch of the UK's first National Centre for Carnival Arts; finalist: Norfolk Constabulary, Summer Drink Drive Campaign; Newsletter, Newspaper or Magazine gold award: University of Essex Students' Union, The Rabbit & SU:MO; silver award: Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust, The Pulse; finalist: 'one' railway, newsletter; finalist: Sarah Thomas Communications, Norfolk Young Carers Magazine; Use of Internal Communication gold award: EEDA, Independent Performance Assessment; silver: 'one' railway, Campaign to Raise Profile of Annual Employee Survey; Consumer Campaign gold award: Shorthose Russell, Feel Good, Look Good, You Can Do It, We Can Help; silver: The Works, Chapelfield Consumer PR Campaign; In-House Campaign gold award: EEDA, Challenging Migrant Worker Myths; silver: University of Essex Students' Union, Summer Ball 06; Public Sector Programme gold award: Essex Police, Neighbourhood Policing ; silver: Black Pig Design Company, Launch of the UK's First National Centre for Carnival Arts; Relationship Management Programme gold award: Newsmakers PR, Relationship Management for Hansells Solicitors; Low Budget Campaign gold award: Band & Brown Communications, Richard Hughes and The Lavender House Restaurant; silver award: South Cambridgeshire District Council, Scores on the Doors in South Cambridgeshire; Best Use of Media Relations gold award: Amanda Politzer PR, Queens' College Dining; Young Communicator winner: Christian Lundberg, Band & Brown Communications; highly commended: Kelly Quigley, South Cambrideshire District Council; Small Team/Sole Practitioner winner: South Cambridgeshire Communications Team, South Cambridgeshire District Council; The PR Team of the Year (In-House & Consultancy) winner: Band & Brown Communications; winner: 'one' railway; finalist: Shorthose Russell Ltd.