The Only National Awards For Non-Medical / Non-Clinical NHS Staff & Volunteers

The 2021 Unsung Hero Awards – A Night at the Museum!

1st October 2021

“These are really special people, and recognition is good for everybody…” Amanda Piper, Housekeeper, East London NHS Foundation Trust and 2019 Winner for Estates & Ancillary.

The Unsung Hero Awards (UHA) are the only National Awards for Non-Medical / Non-Clinical NHS Staff and Volunteers who go above and beyond the call of duty. The Awards shine a light on the hard work and commitment of teams and individuals who are vital to our health service, albeit are sometimes overlooked. Non-Medical employees and Volunteers make up around 50% of the approx. 1.5 million people employed by the NHS currently.

In the past eighteen months, both Non-Medical staff and Volunteers, as well as Medical staff have worked in a superhuman capacity to ensure that the UK remained as resistant as possible towards one of the largest-scale health threats recorded in recent times. At the UHA, we feel these individuals ‘fighting on the front line’ to protect us need to be celebrated now more than ever!

We are excited to announce that our Annual Awards will be held on 12th November 2021 from 7.30pm. The Awards will be delivered at a brand new venue for us: The Museum of Science and Industry, a globally important heritage site comprising five listed buildings, two of them listed Grade 1. The venue is the original terminus of the world’s first inter-city railway and it’s characteristic 1830 Warehouse epitomises the city of Manchester’s 19th-century reputation as the “warehouse of the western world”.

As in previous years, you can expect a lively, friendly and all-inclusive atmosphere. There will be complimentary drinks upon arrival, a manned coat check, scrumptious bowl food and beautifully decorated tables where you can freely choose where to sit. There will be up-beat and lively entertainment throughout the event in the form of an up-close magician and a live singer. We will also have the event professionally photographed and filmed.

We are extremely excited to announce that our Key Note Speaker for 2021 is Ellie Orton, OBE, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together.

Ellie is Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together and at the helm of the NHS Charities Covid-19 Urgent Appeal in 2020 raising over £100m in just 6 weeks and reaching over £150m by December 2020. These funds are granted to all 240 NHS Charities across the UK. Before becoming CEO of NHSCT, Ellie worked in the specialist social care, education, and faith sector for over 25 years. This includes being CEO at a Coventry based charity working with the most vulnerable and sexually exploited women in the city, and Interim CEO and Head of Youth Programmes at the Jon Egging Trust, the National charity set up following the death of the Red Arrows pilot Flt Lt Jon Egging in 2011.

The event will be Covid compliant and extra measures will be in place to keep the space safe and sanitised.

Keep an eye out across our social media channels for further announcements about the event.

Twitter: @UnsungHeroAward

Facebook: @UnsungHeroAwards

We look forward to welcoming our guests in person to the 7th Annual Unsung Hero Awards very soon.