National Aids Trust, Aspire and FareShare amongst the winners at tonight’s 18th annual Charity Awards
Ten organisations were honoured with awards in ten categories covering all types of charitable activity in the UK on the night, with The Clink Charity, winner of the education and training category, being chosen as the Overall Winner.
John Low, CEO of overall awards partner Charities Aid Foundation, introduces 2017’s overall winner
The winners accepted their prizes before an audience of voluntary sector leaders, frontline charity works and celebrities at a ceremony hosted by TV journalist and BBC Breakfast host Louise Minchin in the Pavilion at the Tower of London.
The winners were:
National Aids Trust won the campaigning and advocacy category for successfully campaigning the NHS England to commit to a three-year clinical trial of HIV prevention drug PrEP on the NHS for up to 10,000 at-risk people.
Create won the arts, culture and heritage category for its creative:connection programme, which gives disabled young people across the UK access to a tailored creative arts programme, as well as giving them access to mentoring and friendship-making opportunities.
The Lullaby Trust won the children and youth category for its work helping young families with parents under the age of 20 to prevent cot death, and overall infant mortality amongst infants.
Aspire won the disability category for establishing InstructAbility, which provides free, accessible training to unemployed, disabled people to help them pursue careers as fitness professionals and to exercise themselves.
Prospect Hospice won the healthcare and medical research category for its joint initiative with Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group to improve end of life support in care homes in the local area.
The Clink Charity won the education and training category for its vocational scheme which prepares prisoners for life after incarceration by giving them hands-on experience in prison restaurants, as well as helping them gain City & Guilds qualifications in food preparation, service and hygiene. For this work, the Clink Charity also won the Overall Award for Excellence.
The East End Community Foundation won the grantmaking and funding category for establishing a fund which helps unemployed people living in London’s East End. Bringing together multiple donors over many years, the fund secured £110,500 in 2016/16 and distributed it on to five different employment projects.
FareShare UK won the environment and conservation category for its work redistributing wasted food to those who need it. In 2016, FareShare doubled the number of community groups it supports through its network of producers and provided a record 25.8 million meals to the charity sector, and rolled out its FareShare FoodCloud app which it trialled with Waitrose.
Pump Aid won the international aid and development category for its training programme in Malawi. The charity trained 25 entrepreneurs and provided them with equipment and marketing material to help set up small businesses distributing working water pumps to local communities. As a result, the total gave over 20,000 people access to safe drinking water.
Smart Works won the social care, advice and support category for its programme helping over 3,000 formerly unemployed women back into work. The charity worked alongside the prison and care services, homeless shelters and refuges to help women by growing their interview skills and providing them with professional clothes to boost their confidence.