Three award shortlists for Rossendale Council and Viva

Rossendale PR agency Viva has been shortlisted for three awards, including Outstanding Small Public Relations Consultancy, at the upcoming CIPR PRide Awards North West.

Viva’s ‘Check Before You Chuck’ recycling campaign for Rossendale Borough Council is shortlisted twice – making the cut for the Public Sector Campaign and hotly-contested Low Budget Campaign.

The recycling campaign was devised to help the council understand how it could improve recycling rates across the borough. Based on a pilot area, ‘Check Before You Chuck’ delivered impactful results, prompting the council to roll out the behaviour change campaign across Rossendale and its 70,000 residents.

Viva is no stranger in the Small Public Relations Consultancy category – the agency first won it in 2016 before coming out on top again in 2019 and 2021. 

Tony Garner, Viva’s founder and MD, is now hoping for a fourth agency title in seven years at the ceremony, which takes place in November. 

He said: “The ‘Check Before You Chuck’ campaign not only delivered on our Storytelling with Impact promise to clients, it also showed we stay true to our values of working with clients that deliver social good, especially initiatives that have a positive impact on the environment.

“Seeing this campaign shortlisted for two awards is a fitting tribute to the team who worked so hard on this pilot project ­– the results and impact impressed Rossendale Council so much, it’s being rolled out borough-wide. 

“Being recognised on the agency shortlist again means a lot to me as Viva’s founder – we’re in the penultimate year of a five-year transformational journey, and winning this award twice in that time tells me we’re going in the right direction.”   

Rob Huntington, chief executive at Rossendale Council, said: “The ‘Check Before You Chuck’ campaign saw a 15 per cent increase in glass and aluminium recycling and an 11 per cent increase in paper recycling – our target for both of these was 5 per cent. We also had a target of reducing general waste by 2 per cent – Viva delivered 6 per cent. 

“This is real impact of a great campaign and being shortlisted for a PR award is fantastic news – a huge thank you to our PR team at Viva PR.”

The winners will be announced in November at The Edwardian in Manchester, and the full shortlist is online here.