Bristol Social Impact Awards 2026
Welcome to the Bristol Social Impact Awards
The Bristol Social Impact Awards are a celebration of the incredible work happening across Bristol and the West of England’s VCSE sector – hosted by Voscur.
Supported by our generous sponsors, these awards bring together organisations from across the area that strive to make Bristol a fantastic place to live, work, and volunteer.
It is a dedicated space to honour local dedication, meet inspiring people and celebrate the profound positive impact of the VCSE sector in our communities.
10 Categories, hundreds of incredible organisations...
The Batook Pandya Award for Inclusion
This award, in memory of Batook Pandya MBE, founder of SARI (Stand Against Racism & Inequality), is for a social purpose organisation that recognises, promotes, and celebrates inclusion.
The Volunteer of the Year Award
This award is for an individual who has made a notable difference through their volunteer work in the community, making an inspirational contribution to the VCSE sector.
The Equity and Diversity Award
This award is for an organisation in the VCSE sector that has embedded equitable approaches throughout its strategy and delivery to achieve better diversity.
The Inspirational Community Leader Award
This award is for an individual who has made a difference in the community and/or the whole city through volunteering, campaigning, or leading others to make a difference to our community life in Bristol.
The Partnership Award
This award recognises excellence in partnership working and celebrates collaborative leadership from social purpose organisations in the sector.
The Environmental Award
In response to the global climate emergency, this award is for a social purpose organisation that has either taken actions to contribute to the target of a carbon neutral Bristol by 2030 or supported collective climate action in their community or citywide.
The Team of the Year Award
This award celebrates a team in a VCSE sector organisation that works exceptionally well together, for the benefit of the people and communities they aim to help.
The Bristol Innovation Award
This award recognises and celebrates social purpose organisations leading innovative new approaches to tackling poverty and inequality in our city.
The Cost-of-Living Crisis Response Award
This award recognises an organisation that has taken unprecedented action to build and strengthen their resilience, showing adaptability, and allowing them to respond to the challenges of the Cost-of–Living Crisis.
The Lorraine Bush Award for Resilience
This award, in memory of Lorraine Bush, a key member of the team who set up Hawkspring, is for an organisation that has demonstrated inspiring resilience.
Could your organisation be one of our winners?
How it works
1. Submit nominations for any of the ten awards via an online form.
2. Once nominations close on Friday 31st July at 11pm, a panel of 3-4 judges will review all nominations for each award and will give each nominee a score*. Judges may be leaders or CEOs in the local VCSE sector, award sponsors, and those with personal links to the legacy awards.
*Please note this score is based on the overall impact of the nominee’s work in the VCSE sector as described, and how well it fits with the award description – not the number of individual nominations. In short, a strong single nomination written with feeling is better than a hundred hastily-submitted nominations!
3. The top 3 scoring nominees in each category will be invited to attend the awards ceremony on the evening of Thursday 12th November 2026.
4. At the awards ceremony, the highest scoring nominee for each award will be revealed as the winner. Winners each receive a trophy, and all shortlisted nominees receive a certificate.
The people who make it all possible…
Our sponsors
A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making the Bristol Social Impact Awards possible; your commitment to celebrating Bristol’s VCSE sector shines a light on the people and projects making Bristol, and nearby areas, a better place for everyone.
University of Bristol
Our venue sponsors
The Sloan Robinson Building, Temple Quarter
We work in partnership with local organisations, co-producing ideas for mutual benefit, and both listen and respond to local citizens and organisations. The VCSE sector, and the organisations and individuals within it, play a vital role in our city and so we are proud to support the Bristol Social Impact Awards."
Society of Merchant Venturers
We are especially proud to be supporting the Environmental Award which recognises the work of a social purpose organisation that is creating lasting social and environmental value for Bristol."
Burges Salmon
Supporting stronger communities is a key part of our Places pillar, and we value opportunities to work collaboratively with others to address local challenges and create lasting social impact. Through partnerships with organisations including Voscur, and as participants in the Social Value Pioneers programme, we have seen first-hand the incredible contribution that Bristol's voluntary, community and social enterprise sector makes to the city. Sponsoring the Bristol Social Impact Awards is an opportunity to celebrate that contribution, recognise inspirational individuals and organisations, and support the continued growth of Bristol's vibrant social impact community."
Aide CRM
Aide exists to assist teams of all sizes to keep their data easily accessed in one place, work co-operatively and produce the greatest impact, a perfect fit for the 'Team of the Year' award."
University of West of England
Our Civic and Inclusivity team works to ensure that VCSE partners can access the full range of opportunities we have at UWE Bristol. We are always interested in connecting with new individuals and organisations to explore how UWE’s research, students and wider work can support and strengthen the work being done across our region."
Bristol Charities
By sponsoring the Bristol Innovation Award, we want to celebrate and champion those who are developing creative, practical and scalable solutions that can deliver lasting impact, helping to build a fairer, more inclusive and more resilient Bristol for the future."
KINRISE – Canons Wharf
Kinrise looks to create and measure value in four ways; human, social, environmental, and financial. These perspectives drive their approach to renovations and partnerships across the portfolio."
Gravita – Godfrey Wilson
"We help charities, NFPs and educational organisations navigate these challenges with confidence. Our specialist team combines deep sector expertise with a proactive, hands-on approach, delivering practical advice tailored to your organisation’s needs.
With 50 Partners and more than 500 specialists, our partner-led teams deliver practical, hands-on support tailored to each client's needs using innovative technology to keep everything running seamlessly behind the scenes. We work closely with businesses, charities, and private clients, providing trusted advice across every stage of their journey.
We have extensive experience supporting over 1,100 charity and not for profit organisations, helping trustees and leadership teams navigate governance, financial management, regulatory compliance, tax, audit, and strategic planning. Our specialist charity advisers understand the unique challenges facing the sector and work alongside organisations to maximise impact and achieve long-term sustainability.
Our services include Audit, Tax, Advisory, and Managed Business Services, covering accounts, outsourcing, payroll, and company secretarial support."
Rise HR
We are flexible and adaptable, recognising that no two customers are the same, tailoring new systems and initiatives to our clients’ culture and strategy is key to our growth. We love what we do, and we’re passionate about making a difference to the companies and organisations we work with."
Moon Executive Search
At Moon Charity Practice, we are privileged to work alongside many inspiring purpose-led organisations, and we are proud to support an event that celebrates their achievements, dedication and positive impact."
Want to get involved?
We are also thrilled to be hosting a raffle on the day, we would welcome and be extremely grateful for contributions by means of prizes!
To be notified and kept in the loop on this event, please register your interest below.
