"A big thank you to everyone who has taken part in our Cage-free Councils Campaign. Together, we're making a real difference to our food and farm animals"
Philip Lymbery, CEO (read Philip's blog here)

38 councils were celebrated as 'Good Eggs' at Compassion's awards ceremony in Bournemouth on 6 July 2010. The winning councils have all committed to sourcing eggs exclusively from cage-free hens. Collectively they will be directly helping more than 17,000 hens a year enjoy happier lives in a more natural environment, without cages.

By winning one of our Good Egg Awards, the councils have joined the ranks of top UK companies including Waitrose and Sainsbury's, who previously won awards.

Our special guest Pam Ayres presented the awards. She gave a poignant rendition of her poem on the life of the battery hen and underscored the real difference that the assembled councils were making to the lives of hens.

"Local authorities who take the cage-free pledge thoroughly deserve our recognition and applause," said Compassion Chief Executive Philip Lymbery. "Their actions are so important, both to the hens that benefit directly, and to ensuring that politicians and higher welfare farmers feel supported in their quest to bring a better deal for our laying hens ahead of the 2012 EU ban on barren battery cages."

The movement for a cage-free future is growing

A 2010 YouGov survey, commissioned by Compassion, showed that 63% * of the UK public would prefer for their local council to use eggs from cage-free hens. Compassion has made significant progress in ensuring that public opinion is heard.

Over 90 councils in the UK are now using barn, free-range or organic eggs and are part of the movement to better welfare and better quality food that is sweeping the corporate and public procurement sectors.

Including our latest corporate UK winners to be celebrated on 14 July 2010 and projected numbers from our European awards being held in October 2010, our Good Egg Awards are now set to benefit 25 million laying hens every year.

Thank you for your support

A big thank you to everyone who has taken part in our campaign to convince councils to commit to better animal welfare and show leadership in ethical food procurement. Together, we are making a real difference to the lives of millions of hens. We are now well placed to continue the campaign to ensure that all councils follow suit.

Well done to the Good Egg Awards winners!

Bacons College
Birmingham City Council
Bolton City Council
Bridgwater College
Bristol City Council
Cambridge City Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Ceredigion County Council
Cheshire East Council
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
East Sussex County Council
Gloucester County Council
Gwynedd County Council
Herefordshire County Council
Kent County Council
Leicester City Council
London Borough of Hounslow Council
London Borough of Merton Council
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Peterborough City Council
Rochford District Council
Ryedale District Council
Salford City Council
Sedgemoor District Council
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Somerset County Council
South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
Staffordshire County Council
Suffolk County Council
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
Telford and Wrekin Council
West Oxfordshire District Council
West Sussex County Council
Wigan County Council
Winchester City Council
Wychavon District Council

Click here to see our list of previous winners.

* All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc 2010. Total sample size was 2,053 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 3rd - 7th June 2010 . The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

38 councils receive a Good Egg Award