Each year, we host our Annual Awards event to acknowledge and celebrate the charities, community groups and unsung heroes who are dedicated to bettering the lives of residents across the county.

This year, our Awards took place at the Royal Theatre, Northampton, on Wednesday 29th November. Six local charities and community groups and two individuals became award winners.

Local voluntary association, Q Space, won the Building Better Communities Award for their work supporting the LGBTQ+ community in Northamptonshire, including hosting a prom for 32 young people so they could enjoy a night of being truly themselves.  

Outside in Theatre, a female-led non-profit organisation, won the Celebrating Culture and Heritage Award for their Bramble Ramble activity packs, which enabled 488 beneficiaries across Kingswood and Hazel Leys to get outside and enjoy affordable family activities throughout the summer. 

Using the values of rugby, Northampton Saints Foundation inspire, support and educate local young people. The charity won the Excellence in Education Award for their Engage programme, which got 37 students back into mainstream education following exclusion. 

Re:Store Northampton works to address poverty through community projects. For their allotment project, which trained and equipped 16 vulnerable adults to grow their own vegetables in a community allotment, the team won the Happy and Healthy Communities Award. 

Located in the centre of Wellingborough, the Victoria Centre provides a safe space for all communities. The centre won the Tackling Inequalities Award for their work supporting Ukranian families and their hosts in Northamptonshire, benefitting 60 people.

Each year, Northamptonshire Community Foundation works closely with the county’s High Sheriff and awards the High Sheriff Award to a local group working to reduce the potential of crime in Northamptonshire. This year, Home-Start Kettering won the High Sheriff Award for the help they provide to families with young children.  

The Lady Juliet Townsend Award for Volunteering celebrates those who give their time, energy and kindness to make a difference in their community. Steph Clayson, volunteer Counsellor at The Lowdown won this award and has supported the mental health charity for over five years. The Lady Juliet Townsend Award also acknowledged Lucy Smith, one of the founders of Thomas’ Fund who has volunteered with children, families and young people for over 16 years, as runner up. 

The final award presented at the event was the Avon Inspiration Woman Award, which acknowledges inspiration women in the voluntary sector. This year’s winner, Pat Manchester, is a Co-Founder and Trustee of Daventry Contact, a charity that redistributes furniture to those in need. Pat has supported Daventry Contact for over 40 years.  

We are very grateful to several local businesses for their support and sponsorship of the Annual Awards. Northamptonshire-based manufacturer Scott Bader Commonwealth were Headline Sponsors of the event, while Wilson Browne Solicitors, Discover Northamptonshire, University of Northampton, Bambino Mio, EMW Law and Avon all sponsored an award category. Local businesses Rathbones, Tangerine Red and Stewart Energy kindly sponsored the event reception drinks, programme and brochure respectively.  

Congratulations to each and every award winner and nominee, we are thrilled to be able to celebrate you and we look forward to continuing our work with you into the new year and beyond.

To see the full gallery of photos from our Annual Awards event 2023, please click here.