Winners of 2014 CYP Now Awards revealed on celebratory night

Storybook Dads emerged triumphant in a fiercely contested category against other charities. In the past year it has reached nearly 18,000 people, including 11,500 children, to improve levels of contact and literacy among parents and children.

The charity now operates in more than 100 UK prisons including young offender institutions, and runs in women’s prisons as Storybook Mums.

It secured one of 21 awards at a glittering ceremony last night at the Grand Connaught Rooms near Covent Garden, central London.

Borough of Poole’s Starting Out, Together It’s Child’s Play resource won two of the categories – the Early Years Award and the Early Intervention Award.

The Hideaway Youth Project, based in Moss Side, Manchester, won this year’s Youth Work Award.

The judges also awarded a ‘Special High Commendation’ for the Cafcass Intake Team, independent of the categories.

The Intake Team was created to improve the process of safeguarding children and families in private law proceedings through early intervention.

This has allowed Cafcass to receive applications from the family court centrally, to be screened by a dedicated team of family court advisers within 24 hours of receipt of the case. It previously processed applications in more than 90 offices with inconsistent rates and different methods for collecting safeguarding information.

Opening the ceremony last night, CYP Now Editor-in-chief Ravi Chandiramani said: “We live in a culture in which the failures in working with children and young people are made very public. The successes in transforming their lives are usually private, so we must share the excellent practice and salute these achievements. This year’s Awards received a record number of entries and competition was as fierce as ever."

The audience also heard from childcare minister Sam Gyimah, who used his keynote speech to announce the launch of a new cross-department strategy to improve mental health services in schools, which will include new guidance on counselling.

He said: "Many schools are already doing excellent work in providing support to their pupils but we know there is more to do to ensure schools enrich the whole child. This is why we are setting the first in a series of actions as part of a fresh focus on mental health.

"Developing young peoples’ character can sometimes be seen as being separate from academic attainment, but mental health problems can be a real barrier to achievement and they can certainly be approached and achieved together."

Judges examined almost 450 entries, while a panel of young judges scored those that were shortlisted. Their marks were added to those of the adult professional judges to help determine the overall winners.

The awards were sponsored by Carers Trust, Core Assets, National Youth Agency and Unity Insurance Services.

Winners:

THE EARLY YEARS AWARD
Starting Out, Together It’s Child’s Play - Borough of Poole

THE PLAY AWARD
Play Outreach Project - Northumberland County Council and Berwick Community Trust

THE YOUTH WORK AWARD
Hideaway Youth Project

THE YOUTH VOLUNTEERING AWARD
Winter Warmers - Essex County Council Youth Service

THE LEARNING AWARD
Children’s Transport Independent Travel Training Project - Leeds City Council

THE ARTS AND CULTURE AWARD
Justice for Johnny - Hampshire County Council

THE ADVICE AND GUIDANCE AWARD
Mind of My Own (MOMO) - Sixteen25

THE YOUNG CARERS AWARD
Roundhouse - Portsmouth City Council

THE LEAVING CARE AWARD
The Topé Project

THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING AWARD
Let’s Get Fizzical

THE EARLY INTERVENTION AWARD
Starting Out, Together It’s Child’s Play - Borough of Poole

THE CHILDREN IN CARE AWARD
Fostering Capacity Scheme - Cheshire East Council

THE YOUTH JUSTICE AWARD
The Skill Mill

THE FAMILY SUPPORT AWARD
The Den - Empowerment

THE SAFEGUARDING AWARD
Volunteers in Child Protection - Community Service Volunteers

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S CHAMPION
Lady Diana Whitmore, Teens and Toddlers

THE CHILDREN’S ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Caroline McGovern - St Marys Schools and College, Bexhill

THE PARTNERSHIP WORKING AWARD
Children and Young People’s Domestic Abuse Interventions - Cheshire Without Abuse

THE RECRUITMENT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD
Think Family Services Team - Durham County Council

THE LOCAL AUTHORITY CHILDREN’S TEAM AWARD
Care Leavers Employment Team - Derbyshire County Council

THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S CHARITY AWARD
Storybook Dads

Special High Commendation:
Cafcass Intake Team

High Commendations:

THE EARLY YEARS AWARD
Early Language Development Programme - Cheshire East Early Years and Childcare Team

THE YOUTH VOLUNTEERING AWARD
Friends for Leisure – Friends for Leisure Young Volunteers

THE LEARNING AWARD
North East Lincolnshire Learning Provision – North East Lincolnshire Children’s Centres

THE ARTS AND CULTURE AWARD
Life & Deaf Association

THE YOUNG CARERS AWARD
Carers in Hertfordshire Young Carers Team – Carers in Hertfordshire

THE CHILDREN IN CARE AWARD
The World Through Our Eyes, The Voice Project – Staffordshire County Council

THE YOUTH JUSTICE AWARD
Speech and Language Therapy Programme

THE FAMILY SUPPORT AWARD
Storybook Dads

THE SAFEGUARDING AWARD
Coping with Crying – NSPCC

THE PARTNERSHIP WORKING AWARD
Industrial Centres of Excellence – City of Metropolitan District Council

THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S CHARITY AWARD
CHUMS Community Interest Company

Adult judges:
Deborah Absalom, Chair, Redbridge Local Safeguarding Children Board
Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissioner for England
Stephen Bediako, Co-director, Project Oracle
Kathy Evans, Chief Executive, Children England
John Freeman, Independent Consultant, John Freeman Consulting
Tony Gallagher, HMI National Lead (Youth Strategy), Ofsted
Janet Grauberg, Strategy and Policy Consultant
Dez Holmes, Director, Research In Practice
Imran Hussain, Head of Policy, Rights and Advocacy, Child Poverty Action Group
Christine Lenehan, Director, Council for Disabled Children
Janet Rich, Trustee, Care Leavers’ Foundation
Anand Shukla, Chief Executive, Family and Childcare Trust
Enver Solomon, Director of Evidence and Impact, National Children’s Bureau
Charlie Spencer, Manager, Targeted Youth Support, Sandwell Council
Andrea Warman, Social Care Research, Policy and Development Consultant
Howard Williamson, Professor of European Youth Policy, University of South Wales

Young judges:
Elizabeth Beale Member of UK Youth Parliament, Milton Keynes
Shane Bear Youth advisory group member, National Youth Agency
Iman Boujelouah Wandsworth Youth Council
Kirstie Endersby Youth advisory group member, National Youth Agency
Fred Gill Member of UK Youth Parliament procedures group
Serife Gunal Member of UK Youth Parliament, Hillingdon
Daniel John Peer educator, KIDS Charity
Bernie Kent Peer educator, KIDS Charity
Murwarid Laly Wandsworth Youth Council
Amirah Morgan National ambassador, Affinity Sutton
Rebecca Sakulka National ambassador, Affinity Sutton national ambassador
Libby Stoppard Youth advisory group member, National Youth Agency