On Friday, May 16th, 2025, The Nystagmus Network was announced as one of the nominees for the tenth and final Charity Governance Awards. The organization has been shortlisted for the “Improving Impact in Small Charities” award, which comes with a first-place prize of £6,000 as an unrestricted grant. The Nystagmus Network is one of 15 charities from across the UK nominated across five award categories and has already secured at least £1,500 as an unrestricted grant for making it onto the shortlist.
According to the Charity Governance Awards website, you can read the Nystagmus Network’s shortlisting citation here: https://www.charitygovernanceawards.co.uk/short-list/nystagmus-network/?landing=shortlist
Harshal Kubavat, trustee and chair of the charity’s research committee, expressed their excitement about being shortlisted and the impact it will have on their organization. “We’ve entered these awards to shine a light on the progress our board has made in driving long-term impact. This recognition means the world to us. It validates the work that we’ve done and inspires us to keep pushing forward,” said Kubavat.
In a video posted on YouTube, Kubavat shared their reaction to the shortlisting: https://youtube.com/shorts/nJsWuq01bTQ?feature=share
The winners of the Charity Governance Awards will be announced at an exclusive ceremony in central London on June 3rd. The event will be hosted by Tilley Milburn, with their friend Del the Piggie, and feature a special performance by singer-songwriter Sebastian Golgiri. Both Milburn and Golgiri are professional performers working with Heart N Soul, a London-based arts charity co-founded and co-led by artists with learning disabilities and autism, which was shortlisted in the first year of the Charity Governance Awards.
Jocelyn Stuart-Grumbar, Clerk and CEO of The Clothworkers’ Company, which has organized the Awards for the past ten years, expressed their pride in the response to the final awards. “We received almost a third more entries compared to recent years, with a particularly strong showing from the UK’s smallest charities – three-quarters of entrants were charities with fewer than 30 paid employees,” said Stuart-Grumbar. “The shortlisted charity boards represent exceptional tenacity, ingenuity, and dedication, whether they are tackling issues at a local level or nationally – best of luck to all of them.”
Stuart-Grumbar also shared that although the Charity Governance Awards will be coming to an end in June, The Clothworkers’ Company is proud of the legacy it has left. “Over the past ten years, a total of 178 charities have been recognized, and £376,000 in prize money has been distributed,” said Stuart-Grumbar. “We are excited to develop new ways to continue supporting and improving charity governance in the UK, and we’ll continue working with our Awards partners and others across the third sector to support trustees.”
Being on the shortlist has also secured all 15 charities a paid one-year membership of the Association of Chairs for their boards, and a complementary place on a Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme for a new member of their boards.
The Charity Governance Awards is organized by The Clothworkers’ Company, a City of London livery company that champions trusteeship initiatives. They are partnered with not-for-profit consultancy NPC (New Philanthropy Capital), third sector recruitment specialists Prospectus, and the trustee-matching charity Reach Volunteering.
You can follow the awards on LinkedIn and Twitter (@CharityGovAward) or by using the hashtag #CharityGov25. The winners will be announced on the website following the ceremony in June. For more information on the shortlist, past winners, and more, please visit www.charitygovernanceawards.co.uk.
This news story was distributed by https://pressat.co.uk/.