22 Jun 2007
Mothertongue picks up top National Award



Mothertongue Counselling and Listening Service, a small Berkshire-based charity, has won one of the most prestigious accolades to be awarded in the charity sector at the Charity Awards 2007, sponsored by the Charities Aid Foundation and The Times’s Public Agenda section. The charity, which provides therapeutic support services for people from ethnic minorities who have difficulty accessing mainstream services, picked up the coveted award in the Social Care, Welfare and Religion 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 ten separate categories. Other winners included Comic Relief, The Alzheimer’s Society, The Children’s Trust 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 Mothertongue for its excellent work in offering culturally sensitive counselling in different languages, enabling users to express themselves confidently and effectively. The practical support offered, again in many languages, can, for new arrivals to the UK, be the difference between settling well and integrating productively or getting into severe difficulties. The Charity Awards judges were looking for examples of excellence from which other organisations can learn. They felt that the difference Mothertongue 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. Mothertongue Counselling and Listening Service 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. For more information about the Charity Awards 2007, please contact: Theresa Osen at Origin Communications on 020 7278 0068 or e-mail: theresa@originuk.com