Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail hailed at Scottish Press Awards

He’s Oor Wullie, your Wullie and an award-winning Wullie after our coverage of Scotland’s favourite son’s summer of fun was hailed at the Scottish Press Awards.

The Sunday Post’s iconic schoolboy hit the streets in 2019 with the country’s first nationwide art trail when hundreds of individually designed Wullies brought colour and fun to Scotland’s summer before being auctioned to raise £1.3 million for crucial charities supporting our children’s hospitals.

Our coverage of the landmark fundraiser, which included dozens of stories, maps, guides and special supplements, was named Campaign of the Year when the winners of the 41st Scottish Press Awards were announced on Thursday. The judges said: “Campaigning journalism is alive and well. The winner had to be something really special in view of the strength of the field and The Sunday Post’s Bucket Trail was really special. A brilliantly devised and executed campaign.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Many congratulations on Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail winning the Scottish Press Awards campaign of the year.

“The funds raised have been for a hugely important cause – the way that people across the country responded and the fantastic amount of money raised simply underlines how Wullie remains one of Scotland’s most iconic and best-loved characters.”

Our political editor, Mark Aitken, was runner-up in the political journalist category for his revelations around the Glasgow School of Art while a powerful interview with a mesh-damaged Scot by our digital journalist Megan McEachern was runner-up in the video category. Our chief reporter Marion Scott and feature writer Alice Hinds were also shortlisted.

The Scottish Press Awards were sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, The Law Society Scotland, Visit Scotland, People’s Postcode Lottery, SGN, Openreach, Diageo, Amazon, People’s Energy and BIG Partnership.