Celebrating Brave Young Individuals at the 2021 Wards Children’s Awards

Last week we hosted our 18th annual Children's Awards! Due to obvious circumstances, we made the decision to host the awards virtually for the first time ever and what a special night it was – honouring the extraordinary brave young individuals, their families and those who have helped them along the way.

With the help of KMFM, nominations were open over the summer as countless wonderfully heart-warming stories flooded in. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as we read through them but, after much deliberation, we were over the moon to announce our eight fabulous winners!

• Darcey-Rose Chandler, Triumph Over Adversity (0 – 5 years)
• Theo “Rocky” Foss, Triumph Over Adversity (6 – 11 years)
• Ryan Buggins, Triumph Over Adversity (12 – 16 years)
• Olivia Evans, Young Fundraiser
• Finley & Elliott McGrath, Exceptional Young Carer
• Kezzie-May Unsworth, Going for Gold
• The Grey-Ward Family, Courageous Family
• Club AUsome, Outstanding Charity
• Kaye Congdon, Outstanding Teacher

On Thursday 21^st October, Good Morning Britain presenter, Charlotte Hawkins took to the virtual stage, welcoming our families and announcing our winners and retelling their incredibly touching stories.

There were tears, plenty of smiles and lots of laughter as we were all touched by the stories of bravery in the face of adversity.

Having made the decision to host our 18^th Children’s Awards virtually, we wanted to put on a show to remember.

We invited Marli the Magician along, who entertained us all with a magic show, and we also sent our winning children their very own balloon-making kit so that they could follow along with Marli, creating their very own balloon animals! We had bundles of laughs twisting and popping balloons!

Whilst we may not have been able to get dressed up and welcome our winners up on stage this year, that didn’t stop us celebrating in style with what was a truly special night.

You can read all of their inspiring stories on Facebook or Instagram.