The task facing the judging panel this year was huge. Not just because of the number of entries, but because of their quality. A lot of our decisions were reached by small margins and by a hard day's work! But we hope that in the end these awards reflect extraordinary work being undertaken by the organisations we were looking at, work that reflected the real talent and commitment that marks our sector out. Getting the message out, maintaining the profile, developing sustainable partnerships – these are challenging but transformative tasks. These awards, I hope in the end, go some way to honour the huge contribution the community and voluntary sector makes to the wider community.

— Fergus Finlay, Chairman of the Judging Panel