After six months of competition and hundreds of pounds worth of prizes won, the mission to find the North-East's Winning Smile is over and the winner has been presented with a fantastic digital SLR camera!

When Darlington Building Society rebranded at the start of its landmark year, a smile was incorporated into its new logo, so a photo competition seemed the perfect way to join forces with The Northern Echo and capture the theme of smiling.

2016 is a landmark year for Darlington Building Society as they celebrate their 160th anniversary. The building society is making good progress with the three pledges it made at the beginning of this anniversary year: to donate 160 hours of staff volunteering; to raise £160,000 for local good causes; and to support 160 organisations using company resources, including building space, staff time and skills.

Caroline Darnbroook, general manager (marketing) at the building society, said: "Our 160th anniversary is a real reason to celebrate, and what do you do when you celebrate - you smile.

"The aim was to create a feel-good factor in the region. We wanted to encourage people to have fun and be involved in a creative way - so we wanted all varieties of photos!"

The competition was split into adult and junior categories, with monthly prizes awarded by judges nominated by Darlington Building Society. For pictures of grown-ups, there was £50 of Marks and Spencer vouchers up for grabs each month, with £25 of iTunes vouchers for pictures where the subject was 17 and under.

Overall Winner

Monthly Winners