Since 2021, Millfield House Foundation has sponsored the annual North East Charity Award for Outstanding Contribution to Social Change – then a new award developed by the Foundation. The Award is designed to celebrate and raise the profile of the vital work North East charities, community groups and civil society organisations engage in, amplifying the voices of the people they work with and campaigning for social change.
The judges of the award value the role that charity campaigning has always played in bringing about social change and recognise organisations and groups that have taken concerted action to make change happen. Award winners have worked to bring about wider change for people beyond their immediate user group and amplify the voices of people who find it hard to be heard and include:
North East Charity Award recipients
2025
Her Circle CIC which specialises in issues related to complex motherhood and women’s recovery from trauma and abuse, working to foreground women’s lived experience, supporting national research and lobbying for change.
2024
https://www.newcastlecarers.org.uk/young-adult-carers-wecaretoo/Newcastle Carers for its series of animations highlighting the experiences of young adult carers in its #WeCareToo campaign.
2023
Open Clasp Theatre Company for its ground-breaking work which aims to ignite activism and place theatre at the heart of personal, social and political change.
2022
Difference North East, the Deaf and disabled persons organisation which works to reduce discrimination, increase access and inclusion and work towards a more equal region.
2021
Thrive Teesside for its work amplifying the voices of people living in poverty across Teesside.