The Spirit of Manchester Awards is a celebration of voluntary and community action in Manchester organised by Macc as the support organisation for the 3000+ groups in the city. So it works in a way which is shaped by Macc's values: being supportive, being collaborative and being influential.
How the Spirit of Manchester Awards usually work
For a start, none of the award decisions are made by Macc. We host the party, but we don't decide what happens.
- During March-May Macc puts out an open call for nominations in categories which are about the things we believe make the voluntary sector brilliant: volunteers, campaigning, partnerships, innovation, etc.
- We invite a panel of judges to shortlist 3 finalists in each category (excluding the Dr Sylvia Sham Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Voluntary Sector and Young Volunteer of the Year Award where the outright winner is chosen)
- Each shortlisted organisation/individual are asked to make a 1 minute short film on their work and how they fit the award category. Macc offers help in filming and editing of the videos for those that may require extra support which can then be used by the organisation for future promotion
- Macc gets to work on finding supporters to provide directly or indirectly things like the venue, the food, the awards, items for auction and raffle prizes
- On the first Thursday of October each year, the Spirit of Manchester Awards are held. All shortlisted organisations and individuals, as well as invited guests and supporters, are invited to join the ceremony. Additional tickets are also available to purchase to join the celebration (first come, first served)
- The event is livestreamed via YouTube for those who are unable to attend the in person event, or for those who want to watch and support from their home
- At the event we announce each of the categories, we show each of finalists films and then the audience (online and in person) have the opportunity to vote for who they would like to win the award. The results are then announced live for the winner to collect their trophy
- We try to get people to use social media, the press and their networks to share stories and tell people about the wonderful voluntary and community sector we have in Manchester. We use the hashtag #SpiritOfMcr24 on all social media platforms to be able to share the event online and celebrate the amazing VCSE sector in the city of Manchester
- We do a little fundraising on the night to enable us to give out a few small grants to local organisations. Macc staff members will be available on the night to sell raffle tickets for a range of prizes that have been kindly donated to us. View all available donations here.
Virtually everything about our awards event is borrowed or donated: it varies from year to year but the key thing is we want it to be characterised by collaboration, participation, etc. as those are the kind of things we like about the voluntary sector at its best. If you would like to help with the cost of running the event, or supporting one of our awards, please click here.
But that's just the process. To get an idea of what it's really like on the night, have a look at the livestream for the Spirit of Manchester 2023.