These awards provide a tremendous sense of pride and recognition for organisations, projects and individuals. They also give ideas and inspiration to the children and young people's sector at large.
Previously known as the Children and Young People's Services Awards, the 2009 awards will be presented in London in November. Now in their fourth year, the awards have become the gold standard for everyone working with tomorrow's generation.
I hope you will think back over the best things you've done in the past year, put in your entries and join us for a great night out. It's your chance to shine.
Ravi Chandiramani, editor, Children & Young People Now
Time to shine
Nottingham University Hospitals Youth Service is the longest-running hospital youth service in the country. For more than a decade, it has given support to young people with a range of long-term illnesses. In the 2008 awards it got the nationwide recognition it deserved and triumphed in the hotly contested youth work category.
We often hear about the importance of listening to children and young people so that they can shape services intended for them. With this in mind, environmental charity Groundwork London set about consulting young people on the Windmill Park Estate in Ealing about what they wanted from their public space. It identified three under-used green spaces and secured funding to transform them into a natural play area for toddlers, an adventure playground for pre-teens and a youth park for teenagers. The project won the 2008 play award.
The Children & Young People Now Awards, sponsored by the Children's Workforce Development Council, recognise individuals and projects like these from across the UK in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls moved heaven and earth last November to attend the 2008 awards ceremony right in the middle of the Baby P storm. After delivering a rousing keynote speech (and eating his dinner), Balls met and chatted with countless attendees, many shortlisted for awards themselves.
Memorable and inspirational
This year's awards promise to be every bit as memorable and inspirational. There is no doubt that the fallout from the Baby P case and Lord Laming's subsequent report on safeguarding children has heightened public attention, for better or worse, on the challenges facing the children and young people's workforce.
Commissioners and providers of services now have the added pressure of the recession to grapple with. Spending cuts, both real and anticipated, are putting the onus on being innovative and providing robust evidence of what works in improving outcomes for children and young people.
The awards reaffirm the incalculable importance of the sector's work. Among the 22 awards up for grabs, this year there will for the first time be an entry for the best parenting project or service. This is to reflect the growing emphasis in policy and practice on supporting parents of children across the age range, particularly in challenging or disadvantaged families.
The deadline for entries is 10 July and the presentation of the awards will take place on 26 November at the striking Georgian clubhouse of the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, west London. Get your entry in and help us make it a night to remember.
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
- Extended school
- Parenting
- Volunteering and participation
- Financial capability
- Council of the year
- Arts and culture
- Advice and guidance
- Preventative work
- Third sector engagement
- Anti-bullying
- Children and young people's services team of the year
For more details, go to cypnow.co.uk and click on the green awards button
THE JUDGING PROCESS
We are assembling a panel of more than 20 experts and professionals to judge the several hundred entries expected. 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 September. 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 that's made a positive impact. 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 2008 and 30 June 2009. 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 10 July. 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
This takes place on the evening of Thursday 26 November at the Hurlingham Club, Fulham, west London.
GET IN TOUCH
ENTRY PACKS - You will find an awards entry pack with this week's issue, otherwise you can download it. Just log on to cypnow.co.uk and click on the green awards logo. Alternatively, contact Steven Lewis on 020 8267 4042 or steven.lewis@haymarket.com.
SPONSORSHIP - If you are interested in sponsoring one of the 22 categories, contact Elliot Thomas on 020 8267 4667 or elliot.thomas@haymarket.com.
TICKET BOOKINGS - To secure your tickets to the gala ceremony on 26 November, contact Steven Lewis on 020 8267 4042 or steven.lewis@haymarket.com.
