Awards can recognise others as well as ourselves
I admit it, I have had mixed feelings about award ceremonies. You recognise a volunteer for 100 hours of service, what does that say to the volunteer who had less time to give but gave it anyway? You celebrate one charity for an incredible achievement, but what about the other charities quietly supporting our communities, unnoticed.
I had the same issue with the virtual Praise Wall we have at Action Hampshire initially…what if someone gets forgotten, and feels undervalued for the work they do? Maybe you’ve wrestled with similar issues!
Going to the Winchester BID business excellence awards these thoughts resurfaced – I know the other two organisations who were also finalists in our category Trinity Winchester and Winchester Citizens Advice - both incredible organisations that make a huge difference to people at crisis points in their lives and helping them avoid crises.
The event was fantastic – a red carpet, welcome drinks on the lawn, a beautiful venue, lovely goody bags, and a fascinating talk about lottery winners and how money can’t buy happiness. We were on a table with the wonderful Colour Factory who I hadn’t come across before, we talked about taking the team there for one of our away days, and I heard about one of their ethical jewellery making sessions, making beautiful chunky rings. Councillors, the Mayor, businesses and us charities were treated to amazing food.
Then came our award. I was totally expecting not to win, and then they started describing Action Hampshire and the realisation grew….we’d won! We were called up to accept our award from MP Dr Danny Chambers, as the band played 'You've got a friend in me'. I straight away sent a picture on our team WhatsApp that erupted with memes and celebration.
It feels good to be recognised. Especially as an infrastructure organisation. Sometimes it’s hard to explain what we do, and because we don’t provide frontline, direct services it’s easy to cut our funding, perhaps. But we do champion, support and connect the voluntary sector, providing small grants and building its capacity to work with other sectors for the good of communities.
It was great that at a business awards there was a category for social enterprise and charity (kudos Winchester BID). A recognition of the huge social capital the voluntary sector provides? And call me childish, but the goody bag containing everything from seed packs, to olives, to a bum bag, gave me a real boost! (we’ll be sharing the contents with the Action Hampshire team)
So, do I think all forms of recognition should be banned? No. My hesitations about people not getting the recognition they need are an argument for creating more opportunities to celebrate their fantastic work, not less.
As we left the event I thought about our upcoming Changemakers Awards 2027, excited that we can do the same, recognising the huge contribution of the VCSE sector (and including a category for businesses that bring value to communities). We’re committed to championing and celebrating the VCSE sector in lots of ways throughout the year.
Worried that a fab organisation or volunteer won’t be celebrated for what they do? The answer: get nominating!
Follow this link to learn more about the Changemakers Awards 2027
Follow this link to see all the winners from the Winchester Business Excellence Awards
