Now in their sixth year, these awards provide a great source of pride and recognition for all those who strive day in, day out, to improve the lives of others. They offer an opportunity to raise the profile of projects and initiatives to funders and the general public. And they present a tremendous showcase of learning and best practice from across the country that can be an inspiration to all.
The awards recognise initiatives from the public, private and voluntary sector that work with children and young people from birth to adolescence as well as their families. Initiatives might be aimed at all children within a community or targeted at those who are the most vulnerable or disadvantaged. Crucially, entrants must be able to provide evidence that what they have done has had a positive impact on people's lives.
We hope you will be inspired to enter the awards and achieve the wider recognition that your organisation's achievements deserve.
Ravi Chandiramani, editor, Children & Young People Now
The North Lancs Training Group has worked intensively with 14- to 16-year-old pupils that are truant or excluded to return to school.
Through its eight-week Engage programme, it has sought to identify what holds the young people back and devises individual learning programmes. Eighty-five per cent of participants have returned to school thanks to the initiative, and at the 2010 CYP Now Awards it deservedly triumphed in the learning award category.
A little further south, the Lads and Dads scheme, run by Staffordshire Moorlands Community and Learning Partnership, won the parenting award. The scheme works with vulnerable families to bring dads and sons together in outdoor camps, where they learn team-building exercises, first aid and cookery.
The CYP Now Awards recognise individuals and projects like these from right across the UK in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Education Secretary Michael Gove delivered a keynote speech at the 2010 awards, where he said: "Gathered in this room are some of the most inspiring and idealistic and impressive people in the country. It's a pleasure to be able to salute what Children & Young People Now have been doing in order to applaud you for all the wonderful work that you do."
Last year's ceremony was opened by care leaver Kyle (Kay-Jay) Simmons singing the song Keep Dreaming with Stephanie Hazel, offering a message of hope for young people given a tough start in life. This year's awards promise to be every bit as inspirational as previous years.
The CYP Now Awards arguably have more importance than ever before. On the one hand, they provide a much-needed boost to morale and an alert to potential funders as so many good projects and services struggle to be sustained in the face of deep spending cuts.
And on the other hand, they provide a vehicle to share and spread some of the most-effective and innovative work that exists around the country. Given that we have moved into an age in which, under the coalition government there is less control and guidance from the centre, and more encouragement for solutions that are bottom-up rather than top-down, the importance of this shared learning cannot be underestimated.
The awards reaffirm the incalculable importance of the sector's work. There are 20 awards up for grabs representing the full spectrum of work undertaken across the sector.
The deadline for entries is 17 June and the presentation of the awards will take place in November.
Get your entry in and gain the national recognition that you richly deserve.
The categories
- Best corporate parent
- Children and young people's champion
- Health and wellbeing
- Stay safe
- Integrated working
- Play
- Workforce development
- Justice
- Youth work
- Early years
- Learning
- Parenting
- Volunteering and participation
- Financial capability
- Young person's achievement
- Arts and culture
- Advice and guidance
- Preventative work
- Third sector engagement
- Best children and young people's services team
For more details, go to cypnowawards.co.uk
THE JUDGING PROCESS
We are assembling a panel of around 20 experts and professionals to judge the entries. The judges, representative of the broad scope of the children's and youth sector, will meet at CYP Now's offices in west London in the summer. Their marks will provide a shortlist of entries for each category.
We recognise that services for children and young people tend to be better and more relevant to them when they, as the service users, have helped to shape their formation. With this in mind, we will hand-pick a panel of young judges to examine the shortlisted entries. The marks of the young judges will be added to the adults' scores to calculate the winners.
Judges will not be looking for bland, reassuring statements, but evidence of real innovation.
Your entry should be specific, straightforward and, wherever possible, backed up by hard facts.
HOW TO ENTER
Who can enter? Any organisation, setting or project, whether in the public, voluntary or private sector, can enter work relevant to each category. Entries are welcome from across the UK, and, where appropriate, from individuals as well as teams.
Eligibility Entries must relate to work undertaken, or ongoing, between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011. Sponsors are not allowed to enter the category they have agreed to sponsor.
Cost of entry It is absolutely free — provided you submit your entry before the deadline.
Deadline for entries It's 17 June. Any entry received after then without prior agreement will incur a charge of £50 plus VAT, irrespective of whether the entry is from the public, voluntary or private sector. This is to cover the extra cost of administration.
The awards ceremony Winners will be presented with their awards at an event in London in November.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Entry packs You will find an awards entry pack with this edition of CYP Now, otherwise you can download it. Just log on to cypnawards.com. Alternatively, contact Steven Lewis on 020 8267 4042 or steven.lewis@haymarket.com.
Sponsorship If you are interested in sponsoring one of the 20 categories, contact Dan Rathbone on 020 8267 4740 or dan.rathbone@haymarket.com.
