First EMMAs awards take place to celebrate charity events – & more award news
Melanie May | 14 March 2023 | News
The first ever EMMAs awards have taken place, recognising and celebrating events put on by charities and their suppliers. News on this, and a round up of other charity awards below.
The EMMAs awards event saw over 120 attendees celebrating events that charities produced between March 2021 and February 2022.
The Founders of EMMA-Live and Coveted Creates created The EMMAs both to celebrate events – from charity balls and auctions to golf days and immersive experiences – and to honour the efforts of the individuals involved in them.
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The winners were announced by event host Anthea Turner. Selected by a panel of judges including TikTok and Warchild leaders who assessed the category based on their creativity, innovation, impact and overall success, they demonstrated a commitment to innovation and creativity in their events, as well as a deep understanding of their target audience and the causes they represent.
Winners of inaugural 2023 EMMAs were:
- Best use of Innovation and Technology: Parkinson’s UK – Me, My Brain and I 2021/22
- Most Impactful 3rd Party Partnership Event: Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – The White Collar Fight Club – Muay Thai Fight Nights 2022
- Exceptional Use of Talent: Wings for Life – Christian Horner
- Outstanding Supplier Partnership: Young Lives vs Cancer – Build-A-Bear 2022
- Special Event Manager of the Year: Glenn Gaunt – Terrence Higgins Trust
- Special Event of the Year: Chain of Hope – Chain of Hope Gala Ball 2022
All income generated by the EMMAs event goes back into the evening, with the awards now becoming an annual event.
More awards
GSK Impact Awards
Ten UK charities have today been named as winners of the 2023 GSK IMPACT Awards for their work improving health and wellbeing in their communities.
The ten winning charities were chosen from more than 400 organisations and include Aurora New Dawn, LGBT Switchboard, The Cellar Trust, and StreetDoctors.
Now in their 26th year, the GSK IMPACT Awards are delivered in partnership with The King’s Fund. Winners receive £40,000 in unrestricted funding and the opportunity to take part in a tailored leadership development programme run by The King’s Fund. Following this, they are invited to join the GSK IMPACT Awards Network, a UK-wide network of more than 110 previous award winners who work together to develop leaders, find new ways of working and provide mutual support.
The GSK IMPACT Awards programme has now been running for 26 years, since the awards began in 1997, more than 530 health and wellbeing charities have received a GSK IMPACT Award and funding totalling over £8.1 million.
Nominations open for Charity Retail Awards
The annual Charity Retail Awards are back, this year with new categories to celebrate the creativity, expertise and success of charity retailers.
The deadline for nominations is 21 April, and the awards will take place on the first evening of the Charity Retail Conference, on Wednesday 28 June at Harrogate Convention Centre.
Categories include Young Volunteer of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Environment & Sustainability, Campaign of the Year, and The WOW! Factor Awards.
Winners of the WOW! Factor Awards will be announced on Thursday 29 June.
Smiley Charity Film Awards
The Smiley Charity Film Awards take place next week (21 March), hosted by comedian Tom Allen.
The Awards, now in their sixth year, opened for entries in October, and have received their highest-ever number of entries and votes, with more than 400 charity films entering, and millions of views.
This year, a new award category and award has also been introduced, The Bicester Collection International Award, which is open to charities worldwide.
The Awards finalists, which include charities of all sizes from Shelter and the Canal & River Trust, to Prior’s Court and Demelza Hospice Care for Children, can be viewed here.
Scottish Charity Awards
Now in their 17th year, SCVO’s Scottish Charity Awards celebrate the best of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector, with entries closing this week, on 17 March.
This year’s award categoriesare Employee of the Year, Trustee of the Year, Community Action, Campaign of the Year, Charity of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Digital Citizen, Pioneering Project and Climate Conscious.
Winners will be decided by a panel of judges and announced at a celebratory awards ceremony in Edinburgh on 23 June. All finalists are also be entered into the People’s Choice Award, which gives members of the public the opportunity to vote for their favourite finalist to win.
Charity Governance Awards
The annual Charity Governance Awards, from the Clothworkers’ Company, celebrate outstanding governance and trusteeship in charities across the UK.
They are free to enter, and the winner of each category receives a £5,000 unrestricted grant for its charity as a prize. Runners-up receive cash prizes as well, of £1,000 each, and this year each shortlisted charity is offered a paid one-year membership to the Association of Chairs for its chair or vice chair as well as a complimentary place on a Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme for a new or inexperienced trustee.
Entries for these awards are closed for this year, with the shortlist to be announced in April.
Tech4Good Awards
Created in 2011, the AbilityNet Tech4Good Awards celebrate organisations and individuals who use digital technology to improve the lives of others and make the world a better place.
In 2020, this included a team of teenagers from The Sacred Heart High School in London, who won the BT Young Pioneer Award with their app to help people with dyslexia.
These awards took a break last year but return for 2023, and entries are now open. There is no charge to enter and the closing date is 5 May 2023.
Weston Charity Awards
The annual Weston Charity Awards support charities working in the fields of community, environment, welfare and youth that are based in the North or Midlands of England, or Wales. Environment was introduced for the first time for this year’s awards.
They offer unrestricted grants of £6,500 for up to 22 charities to help them instigate change and accelerate growth despite the current challenges. Winning applicants also gain free access to the Pilotlight 360 programme – a ten-month package of leadership coaching worth an estimated £16,000.
Applications for this one closed in early January.
Kent Charity Awards
The Kent Charity Awards were set up in 2015 to recognise and reward the hard work of charities, volunteers and trustees working in Kent.
Last year saw the Rainbow Centre in Folkestone crowned Kent Charity of the Year.
Applications are now open with a deadline of 19 May, and Finalists will be invited to a gala evening to be held in September 2023.
Animal Charity Awards
This year saw Petplan and the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) join forces for these awards’ eleventh year.
The Animal Charity Awards celebrate the work of staff and volunteers in animal charities and not-for-profit organisations across the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands. There are three nomination categories: Animal Charity Team of the Year, Animal Charity Employee of the Year, and Animal Charity Volunteer of the Year.
Nominations opened last September and closed in January, with 6,770 received. The date of the London awards ceremony to be announced soon.
Third Sector, Charity Times, and Civil Society awards
Third Sector, Charity Times, and Civil Society all have their own awards too. The 24th Charity Times Awards, which focus on charity management, have a deadline of 25 June this year. The Third Sector Awards have an early bird deadline of 3 May (saving on the entry price) and a standard deadline of 24 May. The award categories are split into Excellence, Partnership, and Talent awards. Third Sector also has Business Charity Awards, with this year’s shortlist to be announced later this month on 23 March. Civil Society’s Charity Awards ‘recognise innovative charities that exemplify best practices and deliver sustainable benefits to communities and society’. They are now closed for entries for this year, with the shortlist to be announced on 3 May.
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.