'Dai Greene' campaign wins national award

A campaign that supported local hero Dai Greene has been given a prestigious national award.
Good Luck Dai Greene was launched earlier this year as part of a drive to support the Llanelli athlete in his Olympic bid.
Although Dai did not get gold, he was praised by hundreds of people for his efforts and for being an excellent ambassador for sport, for Llanelli, Carmarthenshire and Wales.
The campaign was supported by many residents in Dai’s home town and an event which took place in the St Elli Centre was hugely popular.
A lifesized cardboard cut out of Dai travelled around the town centre for a competition which also rose awareness of the campaign.
Good Luck Dai Greene wristbands were worn by hundreds of people, many of whom also signed good luck pledges.
The initiative, run by Carmarthenshire County Council’s SirGarPR team, won the gold Chartered Institute of Public Relations award for Best Sporting Campaign, beating off competition from across Wales.
The judges said: “Carmarthenshire County Council created a campaign out of nothing to support local boy and Olympic hurdler, Dai Greene, and use his links with the area to promote it as a great place to live and visit.
“The budget was tiny and the campaign clever, considering Dai was not involved personally - only a life-sized cardboard cut-out was used.
“The team managed to get Dai to tweet, as well as involving his family. This unusual campaign was clever, involved local people and had a good result for the shopping centre.”