Own The Night wins Most Influential Campaign at the WSA Sports Industry Awards 2026
We’re delighted to share that Own The Night, our campaign for Welsh Athletics has won Most Influential Campaign (sponsored by Mentera) at the Welsh Sports Association Sports Industry Awards 2026.
The award was announced on 4 June 2026, where stakeholders from across the Welsh sport and leisure sector came together to celebrate the very best work of the past year. With a record number of entries to this year’s awards and a hugely competitive shortlist, we couldn’t be prouder to see Own the Night recognised on a national stage.
A campaign that mattered
Own the Night set out to tackle one of the most significant barriers to participation in sport for women: safety when exercising outdoors after dark. With 72% of women changing their behaviour during the winter months and 93% having experienced harassment while running.
Welsh Athletics approached Orchard to help create a national campaign, and our role spanned the full picture: campaign strategy and messaging, the creative name and strapline (Own the Night / Be the Light), a visual identity symbolising empowerment, creative direction across video and photography, stakeholder toolkits for clubs and police forces, and a robust paid media rollout across Meta, TikTok and YouTube.
The result was a campaign built on emotional clarity and data-driven activation – one designed to give women the confidence to keep running through the darker months and to mobilise whole communities to “Be The Light.”
The impact
The numbers speak for themselves:
- Nearly two million people reached across Wales
- More than 40 pieces of press coverage secured
- Sold-out Own the Night events held across the country, from Cardiff to Swansea to North Wales
- A genuine national conversation about women’s safety and participation in sport
“The campaign achieved national recognition and exceeded expectations – all on a constrained budget – Thank you”
This award belongs to everyone who made Own the Night what it was: the brilliant team at Welsh Athletics, the running clubs, police forces and community partners who brought the campaign to life on the ground, and above all the women across Wales who pulled on their trainers, showed up and owned the night.
Congratulations to all this year’s WSA Sports Industry Awards winners and nominees — and a huge thank you to the Welsh Sports Association, the judging panel and category sponsor Mentera.
Here’s to brighter, safer nights ahead.