The Belfast Telegraph’s Making The Difference Awards gala evening has received a top accolade at a prestigious ceremony and has been praised for celebrating the “strength of the local community”.

The glittering night that honoured unsung heroes last March won the Best Event category at the CIPR Pride Awards.

During the event, that recognises excellence in PR and communications across the UK, the inaugural Making The Difference awards night was praised by the judges for its “refreshing” approach.

Public relations company JPR, which organised the evening at the Grand Opera House, was honoured with the gold award at the ceremony on Wednesday.

The gala night was held after hundreds of worthy nominations had been submitted to the Belfast Telegraph from across Northern Ireland.

During the evening a range of home-grown talent, including West End star Peter Corry, entertained the audience.

The judges said: “Moving away from the old-fashioned chicken dinner, black tie approach allowed a refreshing event which stimulated and entertained a much wider range of supporters.”

Belfast Telegraph journalist Victoria O’Hara, who researched and reported on the nominations, and Sarah Weir, event manager at JPR, accepted the award.

Mike Gilson, editor of the Belfast Telegraph, said: “I am delighted that JPR won the award.

“Making The Difference was a great partnership between the Belfast Telegraph, which ran the awards, and JPR which put on a sensational gala awards night.

“It was a truly fitting showcase for the unsung heroes recognised that night.”

JPR managing director Jane Wells said they were “thrilled” to win the Best Event category.

“With the title ‘Making The Difference’ we were determined from day one that these awards would be totally different from anything done before and that they would be a very special event worthy of the award recipients,” she said.

It was a successful night for JPR who won seven gold and three silver awards overall.

There is still time, meanwhile, to nominate an unsung hero for the next Making The Difference Awards supported by Tesco.