20 October 2005
Salvation Army and Methodist Church win Top PR Award
The Salvation Army and The Methodist Church have won a top PR
award for their joint Gambling Bill campaign. The two churches have
won the 2005 Third Sector Excellence Award for PR Strategy. The
award was presented at a dinner for 500 charity and fundraising
representatives in London.
The award was given for the joint campaign run by The Salvation
Army and The Methodist church which resulted in major changes to
the Gambling Bill, including reducing the number of Super- casinos
from an unlimited number down to one, and the removal of fruit
machines from 6,000 premises frequented by children. The campaign
used a range of public affairs techniques, PR tactics and
grass-roots mobilisation.
'This great award recognises the hard work put in by the whole team
who work on press and public affairs and our close working
relationship with our Methodist colleagues' commented Major Bill
Cochrane from The Salvation Army. 'The achievements of the campaign
were huge and it is very rewarding to see this recognised by our
peers in the voluntary sector as well as knowing that The Salvation
Army and the Methodist Church have succeeded in working to help
protect children and vulnerable people. However we are still
concerned that the building of a Super-casino is likely to lead to
an increase in problem gambling and a range of social problems so
there is still work to be done at local level and that's where
Christians can play their part'.
But, says Rachel Lampard from The Methodist Church, the real
winners are those whose lives will now not be blighted by gambling
addiction. 'We didn't launch this campaign for our own benefit. 'We
did it because we had serious concerns about parts of the Gambling
Bill, and justified fears that it would lead to an increase in
problem gambling. But we made our points, the Government listened
and we now have a Gambling Act that is better for people than it
otherwise would have been.'
Third Sector is the weekly magazine for the charity sector and this
was the inaugural event for the awards.