A PUBLICITY campaign to prevent a repeat of the anti-Islamic clashes that took place outside a mosque last year has won Harrow Council two awards.
The Crisis Communications prize and the Value for Money prize were presented to the council at the LGcommunications Reputation Awards, which rewards local authorities for their work to improve their image, on Thursday last week.
The Crisis Communications prize was awarded to the council for its efforts to stop more violent protests like those which took place outside Harrow Central Mosque, in Station Road, on September 11, 2009.
Harrow Council's communications department worked with the local community in a bid to encourage residents not to go to the second protest out-side the mosque on December 13, 2009, leading to only a handful of protesters attending.
Labour council leader Bill Stephenson, said: "The mosque demonstration put our borough in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons but by winning the backing of community leaders, police and local media, we turned a potentially nasty situation into a total non-event.
"The award recognises the work of all those involved and again demonstrates that Harrow is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together."
Councillor Paul Osborn (Conservative), formerly responsible for communications at the council, said: "These awards fully vindicate the decision we took in 2006 to outsource the council's communications to Westminster City Council.
"We inherited one of the worst communications departments in London from Labour, and now it's winning awards for its work on important and sensitive stories. Many congratulations to all the communications staff."
The Value for Money prize recognises councils who best explain how they spend money on services, and Harrow Council won for its 'Have you heard...?' campaign to raise awareness about the zero per cent rise in council tax.
