A NATIONAL FIRST - CHARITY SCOOPS 8 AWARDS FOR AD CAMPAIGN

Scotland’s national volunteering programme, ProjectScotland, scooped no less than 8 awards for its groundbreaking advertising campaign at the Roses Awards in Manchester last night. The “You can be a hero, baby!” campaign resulted in 1,100 young Scots signing up to volunteer full time with Scottish charities.

Known for its quirky and controversial branding, ProjectScotland was launched in May 2005 to change the image of youth volunteering in Scotland. Working closely with Edinburgh’s Union advertising agency, ProjectScotland has raised awareness of its brand to 58% amongst its target 16-25 year olds in only 3 years.

The awards for ProjectScotland included the prestigious ‘Client of the Year’ award, the ‘Chairman’s Award’ and Gold awards for TV, cinema, online and radio. These awards helped the Union agency reach a total of 14 awards on the night, making it the most successful ad agency in the scheme.

ProjectScotland covers the whole country and helps young people realise their potential through volunteering in local projects.  Research following this advertising campaign showed that 89% of young people believe ProjectScotland is helping to make Scotland a better place.

“We wanted to get the message out to young people that volunteering is fun and a great way to develop new skills while helping others,” says Kate Mavor, Chief Executive. “Our advertising attracts people and changes their attitude to getting involved in their communities. On average, each of last year’s 1,100 volunteers put 800 hours’ work towards the causes of the charities in which they were placed.”

“Brave clients get brave advertising and these awards show what good advertising can achieve. We are delighted that ProjectScotland has received national recognition for its marketing and credit must go to Kate and the ProjectScotland team for these awards,” said Ian McAteer, group Chairman at the Union agency.

ProjectScotland volunteers gain confidence and develop important life skills through helping others in their community. It has been particularly effective in engaging disaffected young people who lack the confidence or qualifications to get into employment.

 Due to the Scottish Government’s decision to fund local authorities rather than national community organisations, ProjectScotland will have fewer opportunities for young people this year. They continue to seek alternative funding to offer as many young Scots as possible this life-changing experience.

 Working with over 300 partner organisations around Scotland, ProjectScotland is delivering a unique double benefit to Scottish society.