The Charity Awards 2023 is now open for applications.
Now in its 23rd year, the UK’s biggest and longest-running awards programme will once again recognise and celebrate the vital work of charities up and down the country, culminating in a glittering awards ceremony at the Royal Lancaster London on Wednesday 7 June.
The Charity Awards aims to highlight and applaud those charities that are innovative, exemplify best practices, and deliver sustainable benefit to communities and society in general.
Applications are invited in 10 categories, encompassing the whole range of charitable activity. This year, we have changed the name of the environmental category to include ‘animals’, as we received feedback from some animal charities that their work didn’t appear to fit into the existing categories. In fact, we have always welcomed entries from animal charities – indeed, our deputy chair of judges is Chris Sherwood, CEO of RSPCA – but in order to make this more explicit, we have now changed the name of the Environment & Conservation category to ‘Animals, the Environment & Conservation’.
As always, the Charity Awards are designed so that any charity – regardless of their size, location or cause – can enter any project and be in with a chance of winning. Applications will be considered by the 14-strong judging panel against the six Hallmarks of Excellence: innovation, value for money, sustainability, replicability and/or scalability, outcomes and effectiveness, and best practice.
Entries open today, and the final deadline is Monday 27 February. The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday 3 May. All shortlisted charities are invited to send up to four team members to the Charity Awards gala dinner and ceremony on 7 June. Civil Society Media does not, and has never, charged charities to attend the presentation ceremony. Thanks to the generous support of our Overall Awards Partner, CCLA; Awards supporter Investec; and several category sponsors, we are able to welcome teams from each of the shortlisted charities to share in the incredible feelgood event that is the annual Charity Awards evening.
The 2022 Overall Winner, Tommy’s, also took top prize in the Campaigning & Advocacy category for its Miscarriage Matters campaign that persuaded ministers to scrap the policy that required women to have three consecutive miscarriages before they could access even basic treatment or support. Tommy’s chief executive Kath Abrahams said: “We were delighted to win the Overall Award for Excellence at the Charity Awards this year for our work to make sure miscarriage matters. Our campaign shows what can be achieved, and what impact can be made when we come together with our passionate supporters to create change.
“The recognition that this campaign received was a huge morale boost for us but a reminder too that there is still a lot more to be done before we achieve our goal of policy change and transformation in the miscarriage care system that will help everyone who needs it across the UK.”
Peter Hugh Smith, CCLA chief executive, added: “All of us at CCLA are delighted and proud to be returning as Overall Partner for the Charity Awards in 2023. It is so important that we continue to highlight and celebrate the vital work of charities, especially now when they have just endured a crippling pandemic and are now facing even greater pressures as a result of the economic situation. Charities are the safety net for those that fall through the cracks, and they rightly deserve recognition for their dedication and resilience. We can’t wait to hear about their work in the coming year’s awards.”
Find out more about the Charity Awards and to enter your charity’s work here.
