Niche Business Award – Charity of the Year 2020

We’re thrilled to announce that Bamboozle has won the category of “Charity of the Year” at the Niche Business Awards 2020.

For the past six years, Cross Productions have been running The Niche Business Awards which quickly became one of Leicester’s most prestigious events of its kind. On Friday 22nd January, the rescheduled ceremony was hosted virtually for the first time due to the impact of COVID-19. Finalists were able to watch from the comfort of their homes as BBC sports presenter Ian Stringer compered the glittering event via Zoom.

Christopher Davies, Bamboozle’s Artistic Director, and Natasha Davies, Bamboozle’s Business Liaison Officer attended the virtual event.

“We’re honoured to receive such recognition from Leicester’s business community” comments Christopher. “It’s been an unprecedentedly difficult year. Our sector has been devastated by the pandemic, and our team have been working tremendously hard since the summer to adapt and deliver the best experiences we can for our service users in the circumstances. Winning the category of Leicestershire Charity of the Year is a real boost for everyone involved in our organisation”.

The category of Charity of the Year was sponsored by Morningside Pharmaceuticals, and finalists were evaluated on four areas: financial performance, personal qualities, managerial skills, and contribution to Leicestershire’s development.

This year’s panel of eight judges represented a wealth of expertise and experience from across Leicester’s top-performing companies: Ian Borley, Partner at KPMG, Scott Charlish, Chartered Financial Planner at Brewin Dolphin, Amanda Gray, Managing Director at PPL PRS Ltd, Sam Hagger, Co-founder and Director at The Beautiful Pubs Collective, Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, Chief Executive at Morningside Pharmaceuticals, Allison Tripney, Head of Community at Leicester City in the Community, Glynis Wright, Head of Family law at Nelsons, Leicester, and Jigna Varu, CCO at Micro-Fresh.

“We’d like to thank the panel for their support – it must have been a difficult decision to make between such worthy finalists” adds Natasha. “Niche Magazine and Cross Productions have been a great supporter over the years; 2020 is our third year of being nominated and we couldn’t be happier to receive the winner’s title in what has been, and continues to be a difficult year”.

Fellow finalists included Focus; a charity who have been inspiring young people, aged 13- 25 years, to make positive changes in their lives and in their communities for over 30 years, and Leicester Children’s Holidays, a charity who (since 1898!) have provided free respite breaks for children aged 8 to 11 who face difficult circumstances at home. Both organisations make a huge different to the community.

We’d like to thank you everyone who is involved in making Bamboozle the organisation it is; from our talented freelance artists and technicians to our core office team. Our success in providing meaningful opportunities for learning disabled children to experience the world through multi-sensory theatre, along with their families, carers and teachers, is a result of your dedication and commitment.