A campaign arguing that two people who love each other should be able to get married, irrespective of their sexuality, has been named a winner at awards celebrating the best of Scots charity initiatives.
'Love Equally' took the Campaign of the Year title at the Scottish Charity Awards, run by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, held last night in Glasgow and attended by around 400 people.
The campaign was run by the Scottish Youth Parliament, and involved working in parallel with a LGBT campaigning community to push the Scottish Government to take action on gay marriage.
To win, it had to beat off the challenge of four other nominees: Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – Blind Cord Safety; Befriend a Child – Twenty to Plenty Challenge; British Red Cross – Ready for Winter? and STV – the STV Appeal 2011.
In a SCVO statement, Andrew Deans MSYP, is quoted, as saying: “This has been a fantastic year for the Scottish Youth Parliament, in no small part down to our incredibly successful Love Equally campaign, and this award really is the icing on the cake. This campaign was selected, devised, campaigned and led throughout by young people, expressing the view that marriage should be for all. It’s a credit to our extremely dedicated MSYPs, and to our staff team, who have worked tirelessly to win support for equal marriage in Scotland.”
The awards attracted 175 entries.
The winners are:
Charity of the Year
Alzheimer Scotland
Campaign of the Year
Love Equally – Scottish Youth Parliament
Charity Champion
Bill Learmonth
Community Action Award
Skye & Lochalsh Young Carers
Partnership Award
Sue Ryder & Scottish Prison Service
People’s Choice Heart & Soul Award
Down’s Syndrome Scotland and the Celtic Foundation
