Ian Cawsey Accepts WSPA Award
02 June 2011 by Visit Scunthorpe EditorsFormer Brigg and Goole MP yesterday received an award on behalf of the World Society for Protection of Animals from the Chartered Institutes of Public Relations, following the WPSA's successful campaign against battery farms for cows.
A keen conservationist, Ian has always had an interest in and concern for animal welfare. While an MP, Ian was appointed by Gordon Brown as Vice Chair of the Labour Party with special responsibility for Animal Welfare.
Now that he is no longer a Member of Parliament, Ian how handles the parliamentary and political affairs for WSPA.
The CIPR Public Addairs Excellence Award was given to the WSPA for their "Not in my cuppa" campaign which highlighted the welfare consequences of battery milk from factory cows where cows were kept indoors and never grazed. the WSPA managed to prevent the development of one such dairy at near by Nocturn in Lincolnshire.
The award was presented at a glitzy ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminister Bridge Hotel in London yesterday.
Ian told us "It was an amazing surprise. We were delighted to have been shortlisted but when we saw we were up against Facebook, Age UK and Macmillan Cancer Care we were well aware that there were big organisations nominated for the award. So it was a fantastic accolade for us that the judges decided in our favour. In their feedback their said they thought our Not In My Cuppa campaign was original, creative and engaging and that it was a unanimous decision to give the award to WSPA.
But of course what is much more important is that the proposal for a mega-dairy at Nocton in Lincolnshire has been withdrawn as this would have taken the UK dairy industry in completely the wrong direction. Cows kept in sheds, being constantly fed so they produce abnormal amounts of milk and die prematurely as a result is not how I, and I suspect, most people want milk to be produced in the UK. There will be more battles ahead I am sure but the fact that this was a successful campaign and has now received this national award makes all the hard work worthwhile.
We have a great and committed team at WSPA and it is a tribute to everyone of them as everyone has played a big part of the success of Not In My Cuppa!"
The judging panel said that WSPA's 'Not in my Cuppa' campaign displayed creativity, and went beyond the standard public affairs approaches under a single engaging concept. The campaign demonstrated effective use of external agency support and resulted in the withdrawal of the proposal for the UK's first battery farm for cows. This campaign has repositioned WSPA from a purely fundraising organisation to one recognized for advocacy. It would not be an overstatement to say that their work has changed the future of British farming and established WSPA's reputation as a force for the future
Speaking about the awards, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Jane Wilson sad "Winning a CIPR Excellence Award can be considered the ultimate achievement in the PR profession and worthy of the warmest of congratulations. These awards are the most demanding in the industry and set the benchmark for best practice. Competition was as fierce as ever, producing an exceptional quality of entries – outstanding, considering the economic challenges of last year. The public relations world has proved not just that it is resilient but that even when budgets are tight, creativity and a focus on return on investment come to the fore"
For further detals about battery farming, and for more details of this very worth while campaign to alievate animal suffering check out http://notinmycuppa.co.uk/
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