The campaign received the top Gold prize in the Not For Profit Category at this year’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Home Counties South PRide Awards.
The commendation said: “West Sussex County Council’s Communications Team has had outstanding success with its local Youth Cabinet Election Campaign, making it a worthy winner in this category.
“A wide range of appropriate channels were used to enable a two-way communication process to evolve. The use of news and social media, including a dedicated section on the council’s website connected directly to the youth audience.
“Young people from diverse target audiences including ethnic minorities, travellers and young people with special needs were all included and hence over 24,000 youngsters participated. A really excellent campaign on all levels.”
The campaign beat drives run by Kent County Council and Kent Waste Partnership.
More than 24,500 votes were cast in the elections. That was three times more than 2008 and meant one in five young people aged between 11 and 19 in West Sussex voted.
It put West Sussex in second place in the UK Youth Parliament League, following Kent, which had just over 30,000 votes.
There was also a record 210 candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds, including young parents, young Travellers, young people with special needs, minority ethnic groups and looked after young people.
Brad Watson OBE, the County Council Cabinet Member responsible for the Youth Cabinet, said: “Congratulations to everyone involved in this excellent result.
“As a CIPR PRide Award winner, the campaign has been judged to be amongst the best in the region by leading PR experts.
“The Awards showcase the best PR work being carried out across the UK and sets industry standards.”
Caroline Brown, Chair of CIPR Home Counties South, said: “A CIPR PRide Award is a hallmark of professionalism and success – it identifies, recognises and rewards the outstanding achievements of those working in the PR industry outside of London. To win a CIPR PRide Award is a tremendous achievement.”
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