Our Awards

The Prison Volunteer Programme picked up the CIPD Diversity award delivered in partnership with People Management magazine. The awards recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements in people management and development and the impact good practice in this field has on business success.

Sue Ryder beat hundreds of entries to win the Education and Training Award at the Charity Awards 2013. The awards ceremony, one of the sector’s most prestigious events, was held at The Grosvenor Hotel on Thursday 13 June 2013.

In December 2012, we were one of 60 charities to be given the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award. Representatives from each of these charities, plus individuals who were recognised with the award, were invited to meet the Queen and Prince Philip at St James’s Palace. We were given the award in recognition of our innovative volunteering, including the way we engage hard to reach areas of the community through projects like the Prison Volunteer Programme.

Sue Ryder and the Scottish Prison Service scooped top prize in the Partnership category at the Scottish Charity Awards 2012. Both contributed to create a programme which gave real-life work experience to prisoners nearing the end of their sentence.

Our Prison Volunteer Programme won Personnel Today’s 2011 Corporate Social Responsibility Award. Other nominees in the category included Bank of America, BSkyB, Capgemini, Unum and Veolia Environmental Services. The team enjoyed the opportunity to collect the award at ceremony held at London’s Hilton Hotel. Read more in our press release.

In 2010 the Prison Volunteer Programme achieved Highly Commended status in the Business in the Community East of England Right Step Award. And then we went on to win the award again in 2011. The award recognises organisations who have ‘adopted the most innovative approach to working with the criminal justice system to help reduce re-offending in the East of England region’.

In 2012 the Prison Volunteer Programme went on to win the East of England Impact Award for Breaking Down Barriers to Work. 

Our Prison Volunteer Programme’s work in Scotland was recognised by Volonteurope, winning the Active Citizens of Europe Award in October 2011. The award recognises outstanding individual volunteers and volunteering NGOs, as well as corporate companies with effective CSR and volunteering programmes.

Stuart Mitchell, Prison Volunteer Coordinator for Scotland, collected the award at the 20th Volonteurope Conference in Edinburgh, and said: “The Prison Volunteering Programme in Scotland has had over 30 placements through our shop network north of the border in the last two years. The award reflects the attitude and commitment to the programme in Scotland from shop managers, volunteers, senior management and prison officials.”