WILD Young Parents’ Project named overall winner of 2018 GSK IMPACT Awards
Melanie May | 23 May 2018 | News
A Cornish charity that supports young parents has been named overall winner of the 2018 GSK IMPACT Awards.
WILD Young Parents’ Project was chosen from this year’s eight winning charities to receive the overall winner’s award receiving a total donation of £40,000, and access to a training and development programme.
The GSK IMPACT Awards, in partnership with The King’s Fund, celebrate excellence in charities that improve health and wellbeing in their communities. The awards have been running for 21 years, during which time they have awarded over £6.2m to 439 organisations across the UK. This year saw more than 350 charities apply to the awards. The eight winners will each receive £30,000 and are invited to join the GSK IMPACT Awards Network, a national network of almost 80 health and wellbeing charities. As this year’s Overall Winner, WILD receives an additional £10,000 on top of the £30,000.
WILD supports young parents in Cornwall, providing opportunities for individuals to develop skills, improve self-esteem, make positive and healthy choices, and achieve their potential. The charity also runs group sessions with mothers across Cornwall focusing on mental health, relationships, healthy lifestyles, including establishing smoke free homes, and building attachment with their children.
Last year it supported 115 fathers, 214 mothers and almost 250 children. It also provided training to 206 professionals, including teachers and police, on how to work with young parent families. Of the young mothers it worked with who were at risk of having their children removed, 47 per cent had a reduced risk in safeguarding assessment and 30 per cent had their child protection plans removed.
Jo Davies, Manager of WILD, said:
“We were absolutely delighted to be named the overall winner of the GSK IMPACT Award. It’s a huge honour and the funding will go a long way in helping to continue our work with disadvantaged young parents across the county.
“A disproportionate number of parents in Cornwall are from disadvantaged backgrounds and often experience poorer health outcomes for them and their children. Our aim is to help every young parent and child have a better chance of living a healthy, safe and happy life.”
Lisa Weaks, Head of Third Sector at The King’s Fund, said:
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“WILD is a shining example of a small charity which is having a huge impact. The judges were particularly impressed by how the charity works with their local community to provide young parents with opportunities to develop skills, make positive health choices and achieve their potential.”
The 2019 GSK IMPACT Awards open for applications on 28 June 2018.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.