The Steve Morgan Foundation 2024 Conference and Awards was held earlier this week at the prestigious Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire, where more than £100,000 was awarded to local charities on the day - with Everton in the Community taking home the ‘Disruptor for Good’ award.
The event brought together more than 160 people from within the Foundation’s family of charities in a day designed to inspire, resource and celebrate. With inspirational keynote speeches, a live interview with founder Steve Morgan and a series of collaborative workshops, the day culminated with the prestigious awards to celebrate the incredible work of the organisations and people supported by the Steve Morgan Foundation, recognising the valuable contribution they make towards changing lives for good.
Hosted by award-winning journalist, Chris Maguire, the day got under way with a conference designed to offer support, advice and share best practice through a series of workshops covering a range of topics from planning for organisational growth to rediscovering the value of community. The workshops were interspersed with speeches from inspiring guest speakers including a joint presentation from EitC CEO Sue Gregory and LFC Foundation CEO Matt Parish, where they delved into the collaborative work between both organisations in addressing a number of pertinent social issues across the city.
Having undergone intense scrutiny by the judging panel consisting of the Trustees of the Foundation, Steve and Sally Morgan, Vincent Fairclough, Rhiannon Walker OBE, Ashley Lewis, Jane Harris and Brian Clark, all of whom have first-hand knowledge of the charities having worked closely with them, three finalists were agreed on for each of the categories.
Scooping the ‘Disruptor for Good’ award during the ceremony, the Club’s official charity successfully demonstrated its innovative delivery and subsequently, the positive impact it has had on the local community. Within the past 12 months alone, EitC has unveiled its pioneering mental health and wellbeing hub, The People’s Place, obtained substantial funding from the Foundation to deliver early intervention programmes in North Liverpool and South Sefton and marked the one-year anniversary of its Digital Skills Lab - the first community-based facility of its kind.
Meanwhile, EitC was also shortlisted as a finalist for the ‘Best Large Charity or Social Enterprise’ award; recognised as one of the leading organisations funded by the Foundation which is changing countless lives for good. Following EitC’s success on the day, the Club’s charitable arm took home a portion of the £100,000 prize money which will be used to support the development and adaptation of its dedicated facility for young people living with a variety of complex challenges including special educational needs, developmental disabilities and poor mental health with the addition of a sensory room and a bespoke learning room as well as a sensory garden.
Sue Gregory, CEO of Everton in the Community, said: “We’re delighted to win the ‘Disruptor for Good’ Award and to be selected as a finalist for the ‘Best Large Charity’ category. It’s extra special for us be recognised by the Steve Morgan Foundation with them being one of our key funders and a long-standing partner that we work closely with through our delivery of the ‘Steve Morgan Community Impact Model’. We cannot thank the Foundation enough for a wonderful day of celebrating and networking with a number of other influential organisations, and we look forward to utilising our prize money to benefit those who need it most.”
Liam Eaglestone, CEO of The Steve Morgan Foundation, added: “The Steve Morgan Foundation 2024 Conference and Awards not only honours and celebrates the fantastic achievements of the organisations and people within our family of charities, but also provides an opportunity to recognise and share some wonderful best practice in our region as well as learn from and inspire one another. This year we are continuing that learning with follow-on communities, kindly hosted by the leaders of our Associate Charities, promoting peer-led discussion and reflection to support each other in the work we are doing.”
Commenting on the award entries, Founder and Chairman, Steve Morgan, said: “It was fantastic to read about all the amazing work that is being done for our communities within our family of charities and every entry we received was worthy of recognition. The standard of entries to this year’s awards has been extremely high and it was certainly no easy task to select the finalists and winners from over a hundred entries.”
