The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has announced the discontinuation of its regional PRide Awards. This decision comes after careful consideration by the CIPR Board following an extensive review by a volunteer working group that suggested possible ways of retaining PRide or trying alternatives.
The decision was driven by several key factors including falling entry numbers and the challenge of bridging the gap between the rapidly increasing costs of running several events each year and the need to ensure the costs to enter and attend are inclusive.
While the regional awards will not continue, the CIPR remains committed to professional recognition and is exploring alternative approaches to celebrating the industry’s achievements across the UK, as well as continuing with its international Excellence Awards. It will work with its Groups to find a sustainable and volunteer-run initiative to continue to celebrate the profession’s achievements.
The PRide Awards Working Group completed its work in November having consulted extensively and considered many possible ways forward as part of their work. They presented a report that was considered by the Board on 12 December.
Recognising the outstanding work in our profession and across the UK remains as important as ever as does engaging with members across the world. The Board would like to encourage volunteers to think about how best we might meet this continued challenge for future years. Our intention in 2026 is to experiment with new ideas and we hope that 2025 can be used to map out some possible alternatives that we can support.
The Board is grateful to the working group for undertaking this difficult and challenging piece of work. The future of PRide’s localised recognition is something that the Board has discussed on several occasions over the years and we understand that there are no straightforward answers.
For 20 years PRide has offered an important vehicle for recognising the achievements of practitioners across the UK and the CIPR would like to thank all judges and entrants who have contributed to the awards over the years.
CIPR President Rachael Clamp Chart.PR FCIPR
