THE efforts being made in the North-East to stamp out discrimination and promote equality at work have been celebrated and highlighted.

The North-East Equality Awards, organised by Equality North-East, provided a platform to promote the work being done by companies across the region to provide equal opportunities for all.

This year's event, held in the Gateshead Hilton Hotel last Friday, were hailed as the most successful yet.

Now in their fourth year, the awards, which are sponsored by The Northern Echo, received a record number of nominations from across the North-East in all nine categories.

Judges hailed the standard of entries as higher than ever.

For the first time, numerous companies from the south of the region entered the awards.

John Raine, marketing manager at not-for-profit organisation Equality North-East, said the event had highlighted an important message. He said: "Everything about the event was encouraging, from the record number of applications we had, to the amount of people that attended, to the responsiveness we've found from everyone involved - it's set the bar very high now for the future.

"I would encourage all of our winners and finalists to become champions of the cause, by encouraging their partners, their suppliers, their customers to get on board and help spread the message of equality and diversity.

"It's not just about winning the certificates - it's about taking it forward from there."

Vera Baird QC, Solicitor General and MP for Redcar, in east Cleveland, was the keynote speaker at the event.