Aberlour scoops Campaign of The Year at Scottish Charity Awards

Aberlour was thrilled to be awarded the prestigious Campaign of the Year Award on Thursday (20 June) evening at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow.

Run annually by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), the Scottish Charity Awards celebrate the best of Scotland’s voluntary sector.

The award was made to the charity or voluntary sector organisation’s campaign that has made a real difference this year.

Aberlour’s campaign to cancel school meal debt persuaded the Scottish Government to write off £1.8m school meal debt for c. 30,000 children in December 2023.

Conducted by Professor Morag Treanor of Heriot-Watt University, Aberlour funded research which revealed that over £1M in school meal debt was owed by struggling Scottish families in June 2022. The report, based on FOIs, highlighted how families were being legally pursued for as little as £10 arrears.

In partnership with Heriot-Watt, Aberlour successfully embarked on an ambitious campaign of collaboration with The Scottish Sun, sustained political pressure and social media to encourage the Government to write off Scotland’s school meal debts.

On receiving the award from awards host Sally Magnusson, Chief Executive, SallyAnn Kelly OBE said:

“We are absolutely delighted to win the highly prestigious ‘Campaign of the Year’ award.  Huge and heartfelt thanks to all the people, organisations, partners and funders who have supported us with this campaign, we couldn’t have done it without you. As a result thousands of struggling families across Scotland are now benefiting from the cancellation of school meal debt. We are all so grateful and winning this award really is the icing on the cake.”

Other charities shortlisted for this award include:  The Yard, Amina Muslim Women’s Resource Centre and Diabetes Scotland.