The CSJ Awards is an annual, high profile award ceremony that honours the best grassroot, poverty-fighting charities and social enterprises across Britain. Six winners will receive a £10,000 grant and be profiled in front of hundreds of leading figures from across the country.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) exists to prevent and tackle poverty across Britain.
We work closely with an Alliance of almost 400 grassroot charities and social enterprises as they are critical to our mission, both in their vital work supporting people out of poverty and through feeding their insights and ideas into our policy work.
The CSJ Awards find the very best grassroot charities and social enterprises from across Britain, gives them £10,000 to scale their impact and puts them in the spotlight for senior politicians, philanthropists and business and charity leaders to be inspired by and learn from.
The event is designed to give Award Winners unique opportunities to connect with other people passionate about furthering the cause of social justice in Britain.
CSJ Award Winners 2020:
Criminal Justice Award
“Prison Voicemail is an award-winning social venture with a mission to improve communication channels between people in prison and their family and friends, with the aim of relieving some of the causes of stress and isolation that ultimately increase the risk of self-harm and reoffending.
A world in which going to prison does not mean losing touch with family and other important support networks in the outside world. To use scalable technology to improve communication channels between prisoners and their families.
We aim to make it easier for people in prison to maintain positive relationships with their families during this stressful time. These relationships give prisoners a much-needed support network, reducing the burden on prison staff and potentially lowering the incidence of self-harm and suicide. In the long-term, strong family ties have also been shown to reduce the likelihood of reoffending.”
Prison Voicemail online:
Simon Thomas is an English television presenter who worked on Blue Peter for six years, and presented live Premier League football on Sky Sports from 2005-2018.
Maxie Richards Addiction Award
“Street Talk is a counselling service for women trapped in street based prostitution, as well as women who have been the victims of trafficking. Our aim is to provide professional, specialist care to some of the most vulnerable and marginalised women on our streets.
The women we work with have grown up experiencing abuse and neglect; many have grown up in the state care system or in families who were not able to take care of them. When a woman experiences repeated abuse, her confidence and self-belief are diminished to such an extent that she may eventually believe that she deserves to be hurt. When a woman believes that she deserves to be hurt that makes her extremely vulnerable.
The first step in helping someone who has been repeatedly abused is to enable them to believe that they deserve better. The therapeutic services which Street Talk offers create positive relationships where a woman can encounter her own humanity and feel entitled to live safely and with dignity.”
Street Talk online:
https://www.street-talk.org.uk/
THE MAXIE RICHARDS ADDICTION AWARD IS PRESENTED BY CATHY NEWMAN.
CATHY NEWMAN IS AN ENGLISH JOURNALIST AND PRESENTER OF CHANNEL 4 NEWS. NEWMAN BEGAN HER CAREER AS A NEWSPAPER JOURNALIST, AND HAD SPELLS AT MEDIA WEEK, THE INDEPENDENT, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE WASHINGTON POST.
Award Sponsor: Alex and William de Winton Trust
Family Award
“We are My CWA, formerly known as Cheshire Without Abuse. We’re a Cheshire-based charity supporting families affected by domestic abuse. For more than 40 years, we’ve been working mainly with families in Cheshire East.
Domestic abuse can affect women and men of all ages and economic backgrounds. It can affect people from different cultures and traditions. And it can happen in any type of relationship – gay, straight, married or not, with or without children. It can also affect wider families and friends. Our whole family service is designed to help everyone affected by domestic abuse.
We’re trained to recognise the signs and symptoms of domestic abuse. When you contact us, we’ll assess the needs of your family members and help you respond to practical issues involving things like housing, legal aid and finances.
We also offer counselling and specialist children’s support programmes. Visit our work to find out more about the services we offer.”
My CWA online:
The Family Award is presented by Courtney Lawes.
Courtney Lawes is an English professional rugby player for Northampton Saints, who plays in the Aviva Premiership.
Financial Inclusion Award
“Vineyard Compassion is a charity based in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. The aim of the charity is to support people ‘from crisis to full potential’, by providing practical support for the poor in the local community, whilst empowering them to tackle the underlying root causes of poverty.
Recognising the significant deprivation in the local area and with a desire to encourage and empower vulnerable people to overcome poverty and crisis, Vineyard Compassion was established. The charity launched a range of community-based projects that offer a holistic approach to tackling poverty and its underlying root causes. Vineyard Compassion takes a multi-faceted approach in addressing these complex issues to maximise the potential for lasting community transformation. Projects have been developed ever since the first Compassion Christmas Dinner in 2001 with the charity formally established in March 2012.
These multi-faceted projects are making a real difference to the lives of thousands of people in the Causeway Coast and Glens area. Vineyard Compassion has been privileged to see dignity and hope for the future restored to thousands of people who are trapped in poverty cycles, with many going on to reach their full potential in life.”
Vineyard Compassion online:
https://www.vineyardcompassion.co.uk/
The Financial Inclusion Award is presented by Rachel Riley.
Rachel Riley is a British television presenter and mathematician. She co-presents the Channel 4 daytime puzzle show Countdown and its comedy spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Education Award
“We exist to change the lives of young people. There are 1000s of young people who are passionate about football but are not fulfilling their potential at school.
We support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are passionate about football but disengaged at school in order to help them finish school with the skills and grades to make a successful transition into adulthood. We do this by providing long-term, intensive support, built around relationships and young people’s passions, in the classroom and beyond.
The FBB Schools programme is built around the ongoing development of trusting relationships between our participants and our staff. We start to see strong improvements in participants’ behaviour over the course of their first year of our programme, and these improvements become even greater in Year 2. This has led to the extension of our programme to 3 years, where everything we do supports a young person to achieve the outcomes of improved social and emotional skills and their GCSE Level 4 or above in English and maths.”
Football Beyond Borders online:
https://www.footballbeyondborders.org/
The Education Award is presented by Chris Smalling.
Chris Smalling is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Roma, on loan from Manchester United of the Premier League, and the England national team.
Work and Welfare Award
“We actively seek out and engage people who have significant barriers towards being fulfilled, skilled and employed. The Jericho Foundation works with clients to help them overcome these obstacles and gain relevant vocational skills to secure sustainable employment. We do this through providing real work experience in one of our Social Enterprise businesses and we combine this with an individually-tailored package of personal support, guidance and training.
The people who we work with are often held back by a wide range of barriers to employment, training or social inclusion. These might include long-term unemployment, lack of skills or qualifications, homelessness, alcohol or substance misuse, a criminal record, low self-esteem or confidence, mild mental health problems or no history of work experience.
All of our projects are contributing to the core Jericho vision, and are underpinned by our values of honesty, quality, value-for-money and care for the environment.”
The Jericho Foundation online:
The Work and Welfare Award is presented by Bear Grylls OBE.
Bear Grylls is a British former SAS serviceman, survival instructor, and honorary lieutenant-colonel, and, outside his military career, an adventurer, writer, television presenter and businessman.
