WIREDGOV

GSK and The King’s Fund yesterday launched the 2016 GSK IMPACT Awards, which will be open for applications from UK charities until 25 September 2015.

The Awards, now in their nineteenth year, are seen as a mark of achievement in the not-for-profit sector.

The awards are open to charities with an annual income of between £25,000 and £2 million that are at least three years old. The name ‘IMPACT’ derives from the criteria that winners must have demonstrated in their application submissions: Innovation, Management, Partnership, Achievement, Community Focus and Targeting Need.

In 2015, £340,000 in prize money was awarded to charities through the GSK IMPACT Awards. There are ten winners each year, who receive £30,000, and ten runner up organisations who receive £3,000. The overall winner is awarded an additional £10,000 in unrestricted funding. Since the awards began in 1997, nearly 400 community health care charities have received a GSK IMPACT Award and funding totalling over £5million.

In addition to receiving £30,000 in unrestricted funding, winners are invited to join the GSK IMPACT Network – a UK-wide group, which is given access to a unique programme of training, development and networking opportunities, organised by The King’s Fund. The Network offers previous winners the opportunity to develop their staff and provides a forum to share and learn from each other’s experiences and expertise.

The 2016 GSK IMPACT Awards were launched at an event held in Stormont by Northern Ireland’s Minister of Health, Simon Hamilton, to discuss the benefits of collaboration in the charitable sector. The event also celebrated the work of five community-based Northern Ireland health and wellbeing charities, all of whom were previous GSK IMPACT Award winners. There are currently 99 members in the GSK IMPACT Awards Network, representing 62 award winning charities from across the UK.

Restore, an Oxfordshire-based mental health charity, was named overall winner of the 2015 GSK IMPACT Awards.The charity was selected for special recognition among ten final winners from over 350 charities nationwide who applied for funding from the awards.

Martin Realey, Chief Executive of Restore said: 'Winning the award helped us put a spotlight on the work we are doing to combat the stigma associated with mental illness and enabled us to become more accessible. This recognition for charities like ours, who fight every day to highlight the stigma associated with health issues, and to support those people most in need, really does make a difference.'

Sandra Peake, Chief Executive, WAVE Trauma Centre said: 'There has been a significant increase in the number of people who need trauma services and counselling following the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and our services are progressively more in demand. The GSK IMPACT Award enables us to continue to help those who have been impacted by the conflict in Northern Ireland. We hope to lend our voice today to the call for more joint-working in the charitable sector in Northern Ireland for the benefit of those who need services like ours.'

Katie Pinnock, Director, UK and Ireland Charitable Partnerships at GSK, said: 'These awards recognise charities that make an incredible difference to many people’s lives right across the United Kingdom. The programme has grown immensely since we started in 1997, and we are extremely proud of the way it has brought people together, enabling them to share knowledge and learn from each other. Each year we are impressed, inspired and moved, not only by the innovation and talent in the work our winning charities undertake, but by the commitment and dedication of everyone involved.'

Lisa Weaks, Third Sector Programme Manager at The King’s Fund, said: ‘Charities provide important services and support in our health and social care system. These winners show just how much can be achieved with relatively limited funds, through the passion and dedication of the organisations and their volunteers. Their work spans the whole of our lives – they can help prevent young people from making detrimental decisions like taking up smoking, or provide support for people at the end of their lives so they can make the right decisions for them and their family. Their energy and commitment is inspirational.’