Awards are available to registered charities working in the Midlands, North of England, and Wales, in the fields of youth, welfare, community, and environment. A package of support will enable winners to develop, raise their profiles, become more sustainable and face the future with greater confidence.
The Weston Charity Awards have been created through a partnership between the Garfield Weston Foundation and Pilotlight, a national charity working across the UK.
The Awards offer a package of support, worth over £22,000, intended to deliver long-term benefit to the charity, including a fully funded year of support from Pilotlight and an unrestricted cash contribution of £6,500.
The 22 Award Finalists will receive:
- A fully funded year of support from Pilotlight.
- An unrestricted cash contribution of £6,500 to support the work with Pilotlight, this includes travel expenses to meetings.
- Access to a network of local charities working with Pilotlight.
- Two ‘connect’ sessions with other Award Winners across the year.
Registered charities in Wales and the North and Midlands of England that are ambitious and working to alleviate disadvantage in one or more of the following fields can apply:
- Youth – the provision of services to children and young people up to age 25, including advice and guidance, work experience, training and coaching.
- Welfare – helping vulnerable individuals, including adults experiencing exclusion, social or economic hardship or homelessness, offenders, providing support for older people and disabled.
- Environment – practical action around sustainable land use and fishing, renewable energy, recycling schemes, biodiversity, species preservation, marine life, education, climate change science and conservation.
- Community – including volunteering work, practical projects to improve an area, running community centres and providing a range of services for their local community.
To be eligible, charities must:
- Have a registered charity number.
- Be working in the fields of welfare, youth or community.
- Have delivered a service for at least two years.
- Have at least one paid full-time member of staff in a leadership position.
- Have an annual income of less than £5 million per year.
- Provide direct services to beneficiaries (not umbrella groups) or take practical action on the environment.
- Have the majority of activity or beneficiaries in the Midlands, North of England or Wales. A full list of eligible areas can be found on the Weston Charity Awards website.
Organisations that have applied previously are eligible to apply again as long as there have been significant changes since applying.
Applications for the Weston Charity Awards 2025 will open on 4 November 2024 (10am) and close on 8 January 2025 (5pm).
Full entry criteria and the online application form can be found on the Pilotlight website.
