News story

Charity Learning Award winners 2013

London UKLearning NewsCharity Learning Consortium

Charity L&D professionals are often faced with an uphill task – with small teams, little or no budget for L&D, outdated technology and staff in several locations. They face these challenges with creativity, passion and a spirit of collaboration, making ‘less’ really achieve ‘more’. This evening, the Charity Learning Awards 2013 celebrated the commitment, innovation and achievements of L&D professionals working in the sector. Find out who went away with an Award.

The Charity Learning Awards are designed not only to recognise and celebrate the achievements of L&D professionals working in the third sector, but also their journeys. They’re often faced with multiple challenges: using a variety of hardware and software at different locations; trying to engage with care staff who may not even have a desk, or shop workers with limited access to the internet; and of course, making budgets stretch. Despite these difficulties, along with increased pressure on services and resources and greater job insecurity, engagement levels amongst staff in the third sector have risen, whilst they have crashed in private and public organisations. This evening, the Charity Learning Awards celebrate the great work that L&D professionals do to support hundreds of thousands of staff and volunteers.

The Winners were:

Best eLearning programme

  • Winner: Addaction
  • Commended: Royal Voluntary Service

Organisational buy-in: Raising the L&D profile

  • Winner: National Deaf Children’s Society
  • Commended: CRI

Amazing use of resources

  • Winner: Hanover Housing Association
  • Commended: Cats protection

Outstanding return on investment/Return on Expectation

  • Winner: RNLI
  • Commended: Shaw Trust

Most effective use of Moodle for blended learning

  • Winner: Addaction
  • Commended: Orders of St John Care Trust
  • Commended: Royal Voluntary Service

And a special award, for Outstanding contribution to our community

  • Winner: Kyla Lacey-Davidson, Stroke Association

Martin Baker, founder and CEO of the Charity Learning Consortium, commented: “As far as I’m concerned, all members of the Consortium are winners because of the great work they do, despite limited resources. I feel incredibly proud of each and every one of them.

“Collaboration is at the heart of the Consortium: we’re proof of the adage that ‘together we are more powerful than on our own’, with research revealing that members are 50% more efficient in their use of learning technologies than non members in the third sector. Today’s conference and awards dinner was an inspiring example of that collaboration at work.

“Congratulations to our winners and huge thanks to everyone who has participated so wholeheartedly - particularly to the presenters, who gave their time for free to inspire our members in the work they do. The support of key people in the L&D industry is invaluable, both to our members and to our continuing evolution as a Consortium.”

Notes for editors: Photos, videos, case studies & Q&As with our award winners can all be made available. Email [email protected]