The Welsh Charity Awards will no longer take place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, instead the whole of October will be dedicated to recognising the amazing work of voluntary organisations and volunteers.
The Welsh Charity Awards recognise and celebrate the fantastic contribution charities, community groups, not-for-profits and volunteers make to Wales. Organised by WCVA, the awards took place for the first time in 2019 and was kindly sponsored by Class Networks.
From befrienders dropping in to visit their older neighbour every Tuesday, to organisations campaigning for nation-wide equality, the Awards highlight and champion the positive difference we can make to each other’s lives.
WCVA has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s awards with the safety of all involved in mind. It was not an easy decision to make as the ceremony is such an important event to highlight and champion the voluntary sector in Wales.
NOW IS THE TIME TO RECOGNISE OUR SECTOR
Over recent months, the sector has stepped up to protect and support our communities whilst also facing some of its biggest challenges in many years – if not ever. These efforts deserve to be celebrated and we are committed to hosting a bigger and better awards ceremony as soon as it is safe to do so.
In the meantime, we will continue to shine a light on the incredible work being carried out across Wales as well as bringing everyone together through online events, podcasts, webinars and more.
However, with so many groups and individuals doing so much to support people in Wales during this difficult time, we think it’s more important than ever to shout loud and proud about the work of voluntary organisations. And we need your help!
GET INVOLVED IN THE #NOTTHEWELSHCHARITYAWARDS CAMPAIGN
Our #NotTheWelshCharityAwards campaign will take place throughout October and we’ll be sharing your stories about how a voluntary organisation or volunteer has had a big impact on your life over the last year.
We’d like to hear about the community groups, social enterprises, not-for-profit groups of all kinds (and volunteers!) that you would nominate for the #NotTheWelshCharityAwards. We may not be able to give out trophies or invite them up on stage, but we can certainly recognize and give a big heartfelt thanks to our would-be-winners and nominees!
HOW TO TAKE PART
There are two ways to get involved.
1. Send us a video
Using your smartphone or webcam record a video telling us about who you want to recognise and why.
Tell us your personal story about a Welsh charity or volunteer that has really made a difference. Your video should be no more than 1 minute in length and should cover the following:
- Who are you nominating? – What is the name of the group or volunteer? Where are they based?
- What did they do? – How did they help you or what support did they offer? How did they / you get in contact?
- Why do you want to shout about them? – What impact did they have on you? How did it make you feel?
- Say ‘thank you’ – To let them know they are appreciated, please finish your video by saying the words ‘thank you’, or ‘diolch’
Please submit your video to news@wcva.cymru, and if you have any photos of the group or individual you’d like us to include please feel free to attach those to the email!*
We’ll be sharing your videos using the hashtag #NotTheWelshCharityAwards throughout October, and the sooner you submit, the sooner we can tell the world about your chosen ‘nominee’ and get singing their praises.
We will also be showing highlights from our favourite videos at our virtual Annual Lecture and AGM in November.
*If your video or images are large (eg more than 8mb in total) you may need to send the files using a file transfer system, but fear not we can help! Please get in touch if you need any assistance!*
2. Tell us your story on social media
You can also get involved by sharing your personal story of a Welsh charity or volunteer on social media using #NotTheWelshCharityAwards during the month of October.
Please tag WCVA (@WCVACymru) and the group or person you’re nominating in your message, and why not like, share or join us in thanking the other ‘nominees’ that inspire you, so we can really show our appreciation and get them some well-deserved recognition for everything they do.
WHEN WILL THE WELSH CHARITY AWARDS RETURN?
We hope to be in touch soon with a date for the Welsh Charity Awards 2021 and look forward to an evening celebrating the remarkable contributions of charities, community groups, not-for-profits and volunteers in Wales.
If you would like to join our mailing list and get updates on this please email news@wcva.cymru.