Youth charity StreetDoctors was the big winner on the night, taking home two awards.
It won the Youth Volunteering and Social Action Award for its Young Healthcare Volunteers scheme which has trained thousands of young people to become ‘street doctors’ equipping them with the skills to cope if they found someone that had been stabbed or unconscious.
StreetDoctors also triumphed in the Partnership Working Award category for its part in the North West Lifesavers initiative, which alongside the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership and Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit worked with schools, youth clubs and youth justice teams to run in-person training with groups of young people.
Vibrantly hosting proceedings was children’s television presenter Naomi Wilkinson, star of Channel 5 show Milkshake!, Monkey Makes and Naomi’s Nightmares of Nature.
Before the awards were unveiled, the 500 guests at Novotel London West, Hammersmith were treated to a performance from the Primrose Hill Children’s Choir with songs including Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from the film Mary Poppins and the John Lennon classic, Imagine.
Hull City Council triumphed in the coveted Public Sector Children’s Team Award for its Hull Fostering initiative, which has doubled the number of foster carers it recruited in the past year and now supports nearly 300 foster families.
The Children’s Charity Award went to Become, which works to improve the lives of care-experienced young people. Last year was an incredibly successful one for the charity, supporting 1,134 young people through its services and training 800 professionals.
The award winner were introduced by Jonathan Clays, whose voice has appeared on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, and the trophies were presented by sector leaders and awards judges.
The 24 winners and six highly commended entries were chosen from a shortlist of 116 finalists. These were assessed by a panel of practitioners and young people who held judging sessions earlier in the year, reading more than 500 awards entries.
The Children’s Achievement Award was presented to inspirational 13-year-old pianist Chapman Shum, who despite suffering from a rare genetic disease has harnessed the power of his musical talent to break down barriers about disability and inspire others.
The Children and Young People’s Champion was awarded to Michaela Raj, team manager – and creator – of Wakefield Council’s emotional wellbeing team. For two decades, she has lobbied and campaigned on behalf of children in care and care leavers and worked to find therapeutic solutions to help them overcome personal challenges.
In his welcome speech, CYP Now editor Derren Hayes said: “Empowering young people is a key feature of many of the 116 finalists in this year’s awards. All of you who are shortlisted should be immensely proud of yourselves and your organisations.”
The full list of CYP Now Awards 2024 winners and highly commended entries is:
The Early Years Award
Winner: Blackpool Better Start – Centre for Early Child Development, The Blackpool Better Start Early Years Community Connector Service
The Play Award
Winner: Team Oasis Inclusive Children’s Charity, The Huge Benefit of Play
Highly commended: TAG Youth Club for Disabled Young People
The Digital Innovation Award
Winner: Gamechanger
The Safeguarding Award
Winner: Childline (NSPCC) and Internet Watch Foundation, Report Remove
Highly commended: Bridgelea Primary School, HSB Outreach Service
The Learning Award
Winner: Catch22, Include Suffolk
The Arts & Culture Award
Winner: The Mighty Creatives, Creative Mentoring
The Young Carers Award
Winner: Carers Trust, Young Carers Alliance
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Award
Winner: The Children’s Society, Pause
Highly commended: Ormiston Families, Stars
The Youth Work Award – sponsored by the National Youth Agency
Winner: Young Devon, In-Reach
The Early Intervention Award
Winner: Khulisa, Face It – Social and Emotional Wellbeing Skills Built to Last
The Youth Volunteering and Social Action Award
Winner: StreetDoctors, Young Healthcare Volunteers
The Children in Care Award – sponsored by Foster Support
Winner: Hexagon Care Services, Ferngate Children’s Home
The PSHE Education Award
Winner: Herts Young Homeless, Education Service
Highly Commended: GamCare, Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme
The Family Support Award
Winner: Momentum Children’s Charity, Family Support Service
The Leaving Care Award
Winner: TACT, Connect
The Workforce Development Award – sponsored by CYP Now Jobs
Winner: The Green House, Bluestar
The Advice and Guidance Award
Winner: Project Salus CIC, The Healthy and Empowering Relationships Advisory Service
Highly Commended: NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) Helpline
The Youth Justice Award
Winner: Mind of my Own, XChange
The Supporting Child Refugees Award
Winner: ECPAT UK, Care for Every Child
The Partnership Working Award – sponsored by Amity
Winner: StreetDoctors, North West Lifesavers
The Public Sector Children’s Team Award
Winner: Hull City Council, Hull Fostering
The Children’s Achievement Award
Winner: Chapman Shum
The Children and Young People’s Champion – sponsored by Cafcass
Winner: Michaela Raj
The Children and Young People’s Charity
Winner: Become
Highly commended: Ormiston Families
Highly commended: SHiFT, Breaking Cycles
For more on the CYP Now Awards go to www.cypnowawards.com
