How Active Travel Awards Boost Your Campaigns

Finding out you are a finalist amongst your national industry peers for an award for doing something you love is always going to be a big boost to your team.

So Team Brightwayz along with our Art on the Route project partners at Kettering Street Art and Laugh Out Loud Theatre were thrilled to recently learn we are finalists in the Innovative Active Travel Project of the Year category for the Modeshift National Travel Awards.

We have to wait until the November Modeshift conference for the winners of all categories to be announced - very exciting! We are in good company with other strong finalists so just getting this far has given us all a great buzz.

Recognition and Praise Through Awards

Awards are a really big part of any engagement or behaviour change campaign… whether it is industry professionals getting recognition for their innovation and successes, company employees getting seen for going the extra mile or school children getting praise for their efforts and achievements.

Resources for Awards

It’s an area we know a lot about from the other side: our Brightwayz resources have been used for over two decades by award organisers. And not just for active travel but for other industries related to wellbeing or sustainability too.

Whilst our Brightwayz projects team are out working on active travel campaigns like Art in the Route - brightening up our streets with active travel themed murals for example - our products team are busy advising our customers on resources to support active travel initiatives. So we regularly get asked for tips on suitable prizes and awards.

Top Tips for Active Travel Awards

If you are organising your own active travel awards, here are some tips from us and ideas from our Brightwayz Active Travel and Brightwayz Green Promo ranges:

Choose awards that match your values. Sustainable materials such as wood for trophies are in keeping with the sustainability of active travel.
Consider your audience. Think safe and engaging for children (a sophisticated glass trophy might be perfect for a corporate award winner but choose something more robust for children).
Allocate a higher budget where the look and feel really matter. An award ceremony at a conference with sector peers needs personalised awards with a quality look. They will be received with pride, featured in photos, shown to family and colleagues and displayed prominently.
Plan ahead. Autumn is a very busy time for awards ceremonies across most industries. Custom printed or engraved trophies take a bit longer to sort than off the shelf items so make sure you order in advance and let us know your event date (and latest date to receive them) so your request can be delivered in plenty of time.
Focus on other practical benefits when the budget is lower. For in-school awards we offer some great low cost active-travel related prize options. These can be presented alongside a trophy award if you have the budget. But if funds are tight, items like our ‘walk, wheel, cycle, scoot’ pencils are a good choice to give out with your own simple printed certificate.
With autumn approaching, colourful high vis items are ideal as prizes especially for children as they are not just fun but super practical. Choosing items with reflective elements helps them to be safe and seen when out after dark. Fluorescent colours help them to be more easily seen when daylight is fading or in bad weather.
Need a quick ‘well done’ for children taking part in your active travel event? Ready printed themed stickers are easy and low cost. If you need a lot and have more time go for stickers custom printed with your message. Those stickers get proudly shown to parents or carers at the end of the day and can trigger share conversations about your active travel event.
Keep a prize ‘goodie’ box ready for pupil active travel achievements in the school or schools you work in or with. The pupils can even come up with their own competition and award ideas and have the resources on hand to give out. Our Active Travel School Rewards Pack is a great selection of popular picks.
Ask for help choosing! If you need awards or trophies for your active travel campaigns, don’t hesitate to ask us for tips and advice. We can help you choose the best option for your audience, time frame and budget… Our friendly team have years of experience doing that!

Whether you are planning awards and celebrations of achievement for the months ahead… or waiting to hear if you are a winner of an award in your industry… we hope you have a successful and inspiring award season.

And if like us you’ll be heading to the Modeshift awards we’ll see you there!

Here at Brightwayz social enterprise we love to provide information and tips to help you, your colleagues, friends and family travel in safe, active, sustainable ways for everyday journeys.

Our unique range of products is here to help support your active travel campaigns and 100% of profits from sales is ploughed back to support the work we do. Take a look at our range here and find something to help you inspire others to travel in good ways.