A NORTH-East building society is celebrating after picking up prizes at two award ceremonies.

Darlington Building Society, which was shortlisted for three Money Age and two North East Marketing Awards, was successful in a number of categories at the glittering ceremonies held on Thursday, October 18th.

At the North East Marketing Awards, held at The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle, the Society walked away with the award for Integrated Marketing Campaign of the year for its Darly the train campaign, which features the children’s character with his own book, encouraging young people to get into the habit of saving money.

Additionally, the award for Marketing Director of the Year went to the Society’s Caroline Darnbrook, who was commended for her strong leadership skills and for “putting community engagement at the heart of the campaigns”.

She said: “It is wonderful to be recognised for our achievements, and I am delighted that we have won both of the awards we were nominated for.

“We have an excellent team here at Darlington Building Society, and this truly is an award for all of us. I would also like to thank design agency Shift for its outstanding work on the Darly campaign and Peter Barron for bringing Darly to life by writing the fantastic book.”

The Society was also a winner at the Money Age Awards, held at the Connaught Rooms in London, where it took home the Charity Partnership of the Year award for its work with the local community.

The Society’s contribution includes supporting charities financially through its pledge to share five per cent of profits with the local community, but also providing support through volunteering and staff expertise.

Society Chairman Jack Cullen said: "Everyone likes to win awards, but what’s far more important is that it shows we are on the right track.

“It’s clearly recognition of the strengths of the brand, the whole ethos of the company, and of the excellence of our staff.”