We are delighted to announce that the Steve Morgan Foundation has taken the top prize in the Grantmaking & Funding category at this year’s Charity Awards, the longest-running and most prestigious awards scheme in the charity sector.
The Foundation was recognised for our pioneering Cradle to Career programme in North Birkenhead, which delivers systematic and long-term change to improve outcomes for children and young people. The Foundation has so far committed £6.7 million of funding to implement a place-based change approach, where we brought together key organisations and people within the community to form a cross-sector partnership to provide practical and life-changing support.
Working alongside our partners Right to Succeed, SHINE, UBS Optimus Foundation and Wirral Council, Cradle to Career has significantly improved literacy standards among children; given families better access to support; and created new opportunities for young people.
You can read more about the impact Cradle to Career has had here.
Following its impact in North Birkenhead, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has now invested £5.25m to extend the programme into five more of the region’s most deprived areas. The Steve Morgan Foundation remains a primary catalyst, investor and champion.
Charity Awards judge André Clarke, director of charity development at Lloyds Bank Foundation, described the programme as a “spot-on example of taking a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach to investment in an area”. He noted that since the programme began, the district had changed from being the highest-need community in the Wirral since records began, to the fourth-highest, and had also gone from being the worst to the best-performing community in terms of take-up of early-years support.
The Steve Morgan Foundation was presented with the trophy alongside representatives from Right to Succeed and UBS at a black-tie ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 3 July, hosted by BBC News presenter Asad Ahmad.
Our CEO, Liam Eaglestone, commented:
“We are absolutely thrilled to receive this award in recognition of our funding of the impactful Cradle to Career programme. As a Foundation we are huge advocates of place-based change and this initiative is a clear demonstration of the positive results this approach can bring.
“Collaborative working is something we are passionate about – by working together we can effect lasting change within our communities and turn the table on social disadvantage. We are very much looking forward to supporting a wider rollout of the Cradle to Career programme.”
The Charity Awards shortlist is chosen by an independent panel of expert judges, themselves all eminent figures in the charity sector. The judges score each entry against six Hallmarks of Excellence before coming together for two days of challenge and discussion to select the winners.
Matt Nolan, chief executive of Civil Society Media which organises the Charity Awards, said:
“For quarter of a century, the Charity Awards has been highlighting and celebrating the vital work of UK charities, large and small, across the country. In 2025, the sector is facing almost unprecedented external challenges, yet the resilience, ambition and innovation in these applications continues to impress and inspire us.
“Huge congratulations to the Steve Morgan Foundation; its collaborative approach has had genuine impact for the people of Birkenhead, and they should be very proud to have won.”