Association of Colleges recognised at CIPR Excellence Awards

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The Association of Colleges (AoC) scooped the award for Public Affairs Campaign at the 2014 CIPR Excellence Awards. In a ceremony at Old Billingsgate attended by over 800 people, the membership organisation received recognition for their campaign "No Free Lunch?".

The Public Affairs Campaign was one of thirty awards presented at the glamorous black tie ceremony hosted by comedian Jo Caulfield, and the only one recognising achievement from the public affairs industry.

The award, proudly supported by PubAffairs and presented on the night by Founder & Director Phil Murphy, "recognised a campaign which has influenced the public policy agenda or the legislative process, utilising either lobbying or broader grassroots public affairs tactics".

Association of Colleges	"No Free Lunch?"
"Disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds in further education colleges across the country owe their daily free lunch – from September 2014 - to the perseverance of the Association of Colleges' (Aoc)'s 'No Free Lunch?' lobbying campaign. The AoC's in-house team mobilised students, college principals and politicians – among other stakeholders - to influence the Department of Education to change its policy on free meals. The CIPR's judges were impressed by the teamwork between the AoC's public affairs and PR professionals, particularly the day-to-day leading of the campaign by a new member of staff. This was achieved in a climate of government spending cutbacks."

Association of Colleges

"No Free Lunch?"

"Disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds in further education colleges across the country owe their daily free lunch – from September 2014 - to the perseverance of the Association of Colleges' (Aoc)'s 'No Free Lunch?' lobbying campaign. The AoC's in-house team mobilised students, college principals and politicians – among other stakeholders - to influence the Department of Education to change its policy on free meals. The CIPR's judges were impressed by the teamwork between the AoC's public affairs and PR professionals, particularly the day-to-day leading of the campaign by a new member of staff. This was achieved in a climate of government spending cutbacks."

Christopher Walden, Director of Public Affairs & Communications at the AoC, told PubAffairs: "Winning this prestigious CIPR award is a great acknowledgement of the hard work our colleges put into this campaign – we couldn’t have done it without them and supportive MPs. The real winners, of course, will be disadvantaged college students across England who, from this September, will be able to get a free meal."

The Association of Colleges joins previous winners Guide Dogs (2013) and Peter Carroll Associates (2012) in celebrating public affairs excellence at the ceremony dominated by public relations campaigns.

You can find the AoC's campaign submission in full featured on PubAffairs here.