The 2018 Unsung Hero Awards: The Night Explained
21st February 2018This year marks our biggest award ceremony to date. We have had over 100 NHS organisations involved, over 400 nominations submitted and over 1,100 nominees nominated!
In terms of NHS Trust engagement and participation throughout the UK, this has been our most responsive year to date…
The official 2018 Unsung Hero Awards Ceremony will be opened by The Mayor of Greater Manchester himself: Andy Burnham. We will have in attendance Jo Platt, MP of Leigh, members of the NHS Leadership Academy, CEO’s of National Trusts and NHS Professionals. We are also humbled to be supporting NHS70 on the night!
The Awards will commence at 6:30pm with our drinks reception in the Whitworth Room at the prestigious Principal Hotel. Right in the heart of the City. At 7pm there will be a call downstairs to the ballroom, where MC of the night Mark Cherry will welcome all attendees; before Andy Burnham officially opens the ceremony. From 7:30pm a deluxe three-course meal will be served and we will have Doctor turned Events Singer Jeremy Sassoon twinkling the keys in his distinct ‘Rat Pack’ style.
At 9:30pm the former CEO of Southport and Ormskirk NHS Foundation Trust, Karen Jackson, will give a Key Note on the importance of Non-Medical Employees in the NHS. Then onto the main event of the night: the Awards themselves! Whilst the awards are happening we will have a Silent Auction running in the background. Our guests can bid to win prizes from a meal out at a fine-dining restaurant, such as The Savoy, to a one-of-a-kind experience: such as a champagne balloon flight for two. All proceeds from the auction will go to Guy’s and St Thomas’ in-house charity, who are our official charity partner for 2018.
The Award Categories themselves will cover: Admin & Clerical/ IT/Ancillary Staff/Corporate Functions/Volunteer of the Year/Apprentice of the Year/Patients Choice Award/LifeSaver Award and Special Mention Award. This year we will award teams (both big and small) alongside individual nominees.
From 11pm onwards it will be time to network! This is the time for all attendees to take a moment to celebrate their achievements over the past year and beyond…our photographer of the night will be on call to document these memorable moments and to continue to make our guests feel special and recognised.
Without the support of our generous sponsors we wouldn’t have been able to put on the kind of event that we feel Non-Medical and Non-Clinical NHS staff deserve. As a young organisation, this was the first year that we reached out for sponsorship and the response that we got back was evidence that the Unsung Hero Awards is a Community Interest Company that is only going from strength to strength.
We are proud to be able to thank the following Companies for their sponsorship this year:
- max20 Project Solutions: Headline Sponsor, also sponsoring the Corporate Functions Category and the Special Mention Award
- Barclays Bank: Sponsor of the Apprentice of the Year Award
- Cerner: Sponsor of the IT Category, Nominee Certificates and Name Cards
- Fortrus: Sponsor of the Admin & Clerical Category
- Enovation: Sponsor of Promotional Materials
- The Principal: Drinks Reception Sponsor
Our headline sponsors max20 Project Solutions had the following to say about why they sponsored the Unsung Hero Awards 2018:
‘‘max20 Project Solutions is proud to be the Headline Partner for this year’s event and we recognise all the amazing things done by so many ‘unsung heroes’ working hard behind the scenes.”
VANAD also had the following to say: ‘‘We are very proud to be offered the opportunity to support the 2018 awards ceremony, which is promising to be a fantastic celebration and opportunity to thank everyone who make a difference day in day out across the NHS.’’
The Unsung Hero Awards exists as a sign of gratitude for the dedication of Non-Medical staff to the founding principles of the NHS: to provide universal, equitable, comprehensive, high-quality healthcare that is free at point of use. However, more than ideals, the many individuals who have been put forward for an award have been recognised for their hard work, talent, determination and willingness to go above and beyond.
We are proud to be hosting the fourth annual Unsung Hero Awards at The Principal Hotel on Friday the 23rd of February. As the NHS will celebrate its 70th birthday later this year, what better way to celebrate this special birthday than to take a chance to say ‘‘Thank You’’ to the NHS for all that they do.
By Laura Tomlinson, Relationship Manager, Unsung Hero Awards