Cinemagic picks up top Charity Award

Cinemagic World Screen Festival for Young People has won one of the most prestigious accolades in the charity sector at the Charity Awards 2007, sponsored by the Charities Aid Foundation and The Times’ Public Agenda section.  The charity, which embraces the magic of film, television and digital technologies to educate, motivate and inspire young people through the medium of workshops, film screenings and industry-led master-classes, picked up the coveted award in the Arts, culture and heritage category at a glittering award ceremony in London, on Thursday 21st June.   

The ceremony, the eighth annual Charity Awards event to take place, is the only national awards scheme in the UK to recognise excellence in the management of charities, acknowledging the outstanding work and achievements of charities from across the UK and the tireless commitment of the people behind them.

Dara O’Briain, Rachael Stirling, Kate Adie, Zoe Wannamaker, George Alagiah and Lord Neil Kinnock, were amongst an impressive line up of celebrities attending the event to present awards in 10 separate categories.  Other winners included Comic Relief, The Alzheimer’s Society, The Children’s Trust, Mothertongue Counselling & Listening Service and Storybook Dads who picked up the top award of the night for Overall Excellence in Charity Management. Sir Roger Singleton, retired Chief Executive of Barnado’s, also picked up the Outstanding Achievement award.

Designed to highlight the management achievements of charities in order to help spread good practice throughout the sector, the award was presented to Cinemagic for its annual film festival, the largest and longest running film festival for young people in the UK and Ireland which hosts three weeks of film screenings, industry discussions, workshops, master-classes, competitions and special events for young people aged from 4 to 25 years old. The Charity Awards judges were looking for examples of excellence from which other organisations can learn.  They felt that the difference Cinemagic has made in this area was especially deserving of that recognition. 

Daniel Phelan, organiser of The Charity Awards 2007 comments:
“With more nominations than ever this year, the Charity Awards are a great illustration of how much fantastic work takes place within the sector.  This year, the Awards have recognised the wide range of charitable activity across the UK, with winning charities ranging in size from those with a couple of volunteers operating on limited resources to the largest household names.  What they all have in common is their ability to turn innovation, passion and vision into an effective project or organisation demonstrating considerable impact. Cinemagic is a fantastic organisation, the award is thoroughly deserved and we’re delighted to congratulate them on their achievements.”

The Charity Awards programme is organised by Charity Finance magazine, the leading business publication for the voluntary sector.