The Celebrations Have Started Early
With such an inspirational shortlist it’s hard not to get excited about this year’s Beyond Sport Awards, supported by Comic Relief on Wednesday 19th October. With less than two weeks to go, Here East is gearing up to welcome over 40 remarkable organisations who are achieving amazing work to tackle some of the most critical social issues affecting our world today.
The organisations will gather, along with nearly 400 guests cheering them on to eagerly see who will win in the 11 categories. New for 2016, the Best New Innovation Beyond Sport Award reflects the central theme of this year’s Summit, recognising the ways technology and creative programming can be used in sport to help change lives. The nominees for this category are fanActiv, Fulham Football Club Foundation (UK), who are promoting physical activity from a digital platform to harness healthy competition between fans; Hummel, who developed a base-layer shirt with an integrated hijab whereby female Muslims can be covered from head to toe while not compromising on performance with their clothes while doing sports; Just Play Emergency Programme, Oceania Football Confederation that helps ensure that children understand how to keep themselves and their families’ safe in the wake of a natural disaster using a digital platform to conduct interviews and track progress; and Move This World who are using digital tools to measure emotional wellbeing.
In addition to ‘Best New Innovation,’ the other Award categories identify the efforts being made to tackle dedicated issues including education, the environment, conflict resolution, health and social inclusion. A number of Beyond Sport partners are also supporting a specific category aligned to their area of work or expertise; Global Partner Barclays are will present the Barclays Sport for Employability & Enterprise Award, rewarding projects that use sport to tackle issues of unemployment in communities by providing pathways to employment and life and enterprise skills. This year’s shortlist includes: Alive and Kicking, Society Empowerment Project and StreetElite - Change Foundation & The Berkeley Foundation UK. UNICEF will also be presenting the UNICEF Safeguarding Childrenin Sport Award, recognising organisations that have undertaken a specific safeguarding initiative or approach to make sport safer for children and/or one which has taken steps to make the delivery of their own or others sporting activities with children safer. This year’s shortlist includes: Pacific Sports Partnerships, NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit, Right to Play and International Netball Federation. As a special judges Award, Presenting Partner Mishcon de Reya will also be supporting the Leadership in Sport Award; previously rewarded to the likes of the CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation, David Grevemberg, and Matthew Spacie, the Founder of Magic Bus for their exceptional leadership in two very different fields, this Award continues to look to honour individuals who lead the way in the work they are doing and the positive impact they are making in communities across the world.
None of this would be possible however without the support of Comic Relief, Beyond Sport’s official Award Partner. Comic Relief’s wide-ranging grants programme and strong support for the power of sport for social change, enables Beyond Sport to offer a funding package to the winners of the Community Awards for the programmes that are addressing social issues such as health, education, conflict resolution, social inclusion and innovation. In addition, Beyond Sport is delighted to have partnered with the Swedish Postcode Lottery's Sports Foundation this year in order to provide special grants to three of this year’s Beyond Sport Awards Community Winners. The Swedish Postcode Lottery's Sports Foundation focusses its efforts on supporting and funding, both at the local and national level, and through this partnership we are delighted to be able to provide additional support to help enable sustainable growth for some of the best programmes working across the globe.
All this year’s shortlisted projects and winners will be deservedly celebrated in front of a room with over 500 guests representing some of the biggest change makers from the world of sport, business and social change. With first class hospitality provided by SMART and great networking, the Beyond Sport Awards is a truly unforgettable night of celebration.
The Beyond Sport Awards is part of the Beyond Sport Summit taking place 18-20th October, at Here East in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The three days will provide guests with a unification of all innovation, creation and inspiration as Beyond Sport shakes things up with a new format to the flagship event. Not only will the world’s biggest teams, leagues federations, brands, corporates, NGOs and development organisations convene from around the world to share best practice, celebrate outstanding efforts and develop new partnerships, the final day of the Beyond Sport summit will see attendees enter the Innovation Hub to experience first-hand the intersection of sport, technology, innovation and social change. The Hub will take delegates on a multi-zoned journey where they will enjoy interactive content, inspirational talks and demonstrations on the pioneering work currently being achieved by leading organisations in the sport for development arena.
There are still tickets available so make sure you don’t miss out – BOOK HERE and join us on a journey #BeyondInnovation