This 9th year of the Awards offers a package of support for up to 22 small charities in the North of England, Midlands and Wales – worth more than £22,000.
The Weston Charity Awards nurture leadership talent while amplifying a charity’s potential impact in offering community and welfare services. Up to £6,500 of unrestricted grants are available to make change and accelerate growth. The winning 22 charities will also have free access to the Pilotlight 360 programme, worth around £16.000, for leadership coaching.
Charities who apply must specialise in the fields of community, welfare, youth or environment. Income must be less than £5 million and there must be one full-time member of staff who is in a paid leadership role.
Philippa Charles, Director of The Garfield Weston Foundation, said:
“As the cost-of-living crisis hits families and communities hard, we see a critical role for small charities in key regions who are supporting vulnerable people. Now more than ever, charities are seeking support to ensure a robust strategic future. The Awards can be critical in helping a charity grow their services for people in real need.”
Alongside grants, award winners receive an unrivalled package of leadership mentoring from four senior professionals across diverse private and public sector organisations. These empathetic “Pilotlighters” offer in-depth expert coaching on everything from creative operational efficiencies to sustainable long-term business strategies that take an organisation to the next level. Winning charities also access:
collaborative opportunities and events through Pilotlight’s network of UK charities
two peer-to-peer support sessions with other award winners to share best practice
a celebratory event for all award winners on conclusion of the programme and
the enhanced profile associated with receiving this award grant for excellence.
Pilotlight CEO, Ed Mayo:
“In tough times, there is little more inspiring than the hopeful, practical and compassionate action of frontline charities, working right across the UK. It has been our privilege to support these charities through the Weston Charity Awards and I am grateful to all the business experts who have taken part in teams to make this possible – and to Garfield Weston Foundation as core sponsors of the Awards.”
Weston Charity Award-winners in 2021 provided critical services to over 51,000 people. The charities worked across a variety of areas including domestic violence and sexual abuse, Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), adoption support, social inclusion, alcohol and drug advisory services, environmental impact, ex-offenders, care work, and refugee action.
One beneficiary of the Weston Charity Awards in 2022 was the North-East based charity, Young Asian Voices. This multicultural youth and community project supports young people as well as adults in the city of Sunderland. Executive Manager K. Ramanthas (Ram):
“[This support] has given us more skills to be proactive and find ways of organising our structures and time. It has given me confidence to have more visionary thinking and develop external partners as well as looking at the strategies of our organisation. I would recommend this […] programme to all other charity leaders. It has helped our organisation to grow, strengthen, and be clearer and more focussed. The skillset that each Pilotlighter brings is invaluable. We were grateful that we were part of this journey and look forward to taking Young Asian Voices to the next level.”
The application deadline is 6 January 2023.* See the full entry criteria at www.pilotlight.org.uk/weston-charity-awards
*Supplementary information may be sought by the end of January for longlisting by a judging panel. A rigorous selection process is then required to handpick the very best third sector organisations worthy of recognition for their achievements. Final selection takes place and winners will be notified in May 2023.
