Annabel Dunstan, 3 Monkeys Communications & Helen Thirlway, IPPL (UK) celebrate their 'highly commended' Save the Gibbon campaign at the Charity Awards 2011

Our Save the Gibbon campaign was ‘highly commended’ by the judges at last night’s Charity Awards ceremony. These awards celebrate ‘excellence in the leadership and management of charities’. The campaign was launched in November 2010 to raise awareness of the world’s forgotten ape – the gibbon. It was featured on national television and radio and in around 150 publications. Funds raised so far will help plant 181 seeds to restore habitat for the Hainan gibbon, the most critically endangered ape – and primate – on earth, as well as helping our partners in Indonesia and Thailand to rescue and rehabilitate more gibbons. This marks a significant achievement, particularly for a charity of our size.We employ just two staff; we are committed to remaining a low cost, high impact charity.

The Charity Awards have been running for 12 years and received a record number of entries in 2011. Dr John Low CBE, of the Charities Aid Foundation, has said:

“It’s important to identify and acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by those exceptional charities across the UK whose impact goes way beyond expectations.”

>Visit the Save the Gibbon campaign website to find out more
>Watch a YouTube video about the campaign
>View photos from the Charity Awards ceremony on Flickr
>Adopt a Gibbon

IPPL (UK) has been nominated for a major national prize at the UK charity sector’s most prestigious awards scheme, The Charity Awards.

The charity, which conserves primates by investigating illegal trafficking, running public education campaigns and funding projects that protect habitat, stop poaching, and rescue and reintroduce primates, has been shortlisted in the Environment & Conservation category.  It is hoping to pick up the coveted award at an awards ceremony in London on 9th June attended by personalities including comedian Hugh Dennis, author Monica Ali, and newsreaders Krishnan Guru Murthy and Andrea Catherwood.

Chosen from a record number of entries, IPPL (UK) has been shortlisted by the Charity Awards judges for its Save the Gibbon public education campaign to raise awareness and support for gibbon conservation. The most critically endangered primate on earth, there are 16 species of gibbon, all of them threatened with extinction. If it wins its category the charity will also be in the running to pick up the Overall Award for excellence in charity management – a prestigious award given to the best of the 10 category winners.

The annual Charity Awards ceremony, sponsored by the Charities Aid Foundation, The Leadership Trust and The Times, is the highest profile event in the charity calendar.  Since launching 12 years ago, the awards have honoured hundreds of charities, large and small, from across the UK, acknowledging their outstanding work and achievements and the tireless commitment of the people behind them.  The charities, which submit their own entries, are each shortlisted for specific initiatives which have improved the delivery of their charitable objectives and which demonstrate outstanding examples of best practice from which other charities can learn.

The Charity Awards 2011 is organised by Civil Society Media, the leading publishing and training company for the voluntary sector.  The distinguished panel of judges includes Andrew Hind CB, former chief executive of the Charity Commission, Dr John Low CBE, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation and Dame Mary Marsh, founding director of the Clore Social Leadership Programme, to name just a few.

Daniel Phelan, organiser of the Charity Awards 2011 comments:

“The Charity Awards recognise and reward the exceptional work that takes place within the voluntary sector right across the UK and beyond.  This year, our 12th, has seen a record number of organisations decide that it is their time to take a bow, demonstrating that charities, rather than being disheartened by the challenging times we face, are finding strength and inspiration in adversity.  It is a great testimony to the spirit of the sector and makes the acknowledgement of the major and selfless contribution they make to society, more important than ever.

By being shortlisted, the International Primate Protection League (UK) has already demonstrated that it is amongst the best managed charities in the UK. I wish everyone involved the best of luck on the night.”

Find out more about the Charity Awards

Bill Oddie OBE, the naturalist, actor, musician and former Goodie, raised a fantastic £1,360 for IPPL on BBC’s Cash in the Celebrity Attic, broadcast on 5th January 2011.

Items up for auction included a tribal mask bought in Papua New Guinea, a personal Goodies script and two VHS first ever Goodies episodies, as well as a collection of Bill’s own – very beautiful – watercolour paintings of birds.

Bill particularly wanted to raise funds for IPPL’s Save the Gibbon campaign so the money will go directly to projects helping to protect gibbons in their native habitats. Bill has already given huge support to this campaign by allowing the re-release of his 1970s hit ‘The Funky Gibbon’ and appearing in a youtube video to publicise the cause. Speaking on the show, IPPL’s UK Director, Helen Thirlway, said “Gibbons include not only the most endangered ape in the world, but also the most critically endangered primate on earth, so having someone like Bill helping us, and giving a voice to a species that has been so neglected, will make a world of difference.”

Find out more about the Save the Gibbon campaign