CYP Now 2015 Awards unveiled on celebratory night for children's sector

Youth mental health charity 42nd Street won the Children and Young People’s Charity Award for its outstanding record and plans for growth in delivering a range of therapy and advocacy services for young people in Greater Manchester.

Elsewhere, James Curtis, young ambassador at charity Auditory Verbal UK, was winner of the Children’s Achievement Award. Born profoundly deaf and having received years of auditory-verbal therapy, 14-year-old James works with parents and trains councils and NHS professionals on behalf of the charity on working with deaf children. He has also has raised more than £500,000 towards training more therapists having delivered a speech to hundreds of business professionals.

The Awards ceremomy took place at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, west London and was hosted by Cerrie Burnell, the children’s author and presenter for BBC children’s channel CBeebies.

Opening the event, CYP Now editor-in-chief Ravi Chandiramani said: “The 2015 awards have been the most keenly contested yet. This year we received a record number of entries, up 28 per cent on last year alone.

“Tonight we are surrounded by people who look beyond any professional silos and are all united by the desire and determination to do the best for children and young people, whatever that takes.”

In a new initiative this year, the judges were asked to reward an “evaluation prize” to one entry not shortlisted that showed a high level of innovation and inspiration but would benefit from some evaluation support. The recipient of this prize is the Roots Foundation in Wales, based in Swansea.

Research in Practice – led by director Dez Holmes, who was one of the judges – will gift two days of evaluation consultancy to the charity.