Nystagmus Network shortlisted for UK Charity Governance Awards 2025

The Nystagmus Network has been shortlisted for the tenth and final Charity Governance Awards. It is in the running for the improving impact in small charities award and a first-place prize of £6,000 as an unrestricted grant. The Nystagmus Network is one of 15 charities from across the UK nominated across five award categories and has already secured at least £1,500 as an unrestricted grant for making it onto the shortlist.

You can read the Nystagmus Network’s shortlisting citation on the Charity Governance Awards website here: https://www.charitygovernanceawards.co.uk/short-list/nystagmus-network/?landing=shortlist

Nystagmus Network trustee and chair of the charity’s research committee, Harshal Kubavat says: “We’re thrilled to be shortlisted. We’ve entered these awards to shine a light on the progress our board has made in driving long-term impact. This recognition means the world to us. It validates the work that we’ve done and inspires us to keep pushing forward.”

You can listen to Harshal Kubavat’s reaction to the shortlisting in this video: https://youtube.com/shorts/nJsWuq01bTQ?feature=share

The winners will be announced at an exclusive awards ceremony in central London on 3 June. The event will be hosted by Tilley Milburn (with their friend Del the Piggie), and feature a special performance by singer-songwriter Sebastian Golgiri. Both are professional performers working with Heart N Soul, a London-based arts charity co-founded and co-led by artists with learning disabilities and autism, which was shortlisted in the very first year of the Charity Governance Awards.

Jocelyn Stuart-Grumbar, Clerk and CEO of The Clothworkers’ Company, which has organised the Awards for the past ten years, said, “This is the tenth and final Charity Governance Awards and what a tremendous response we’ve had. We received almost a third more entries compared to recent years, with a particularly strong showing from the UK’s smallest charities – three-quarters of entrants were charities with fewer than 30 paid employees. The shortlisted charity boards represent exceptional tenacity, ingenuity and dedication, whether they are tackling issues at a local level or nationally – best of luck to all of them.

“The curtain may be coming down on these Awards in June, but The Clothworkers Company is extremely proud of its legacy: over the past ten years a total of 178 charities have been recognised and £376,000 in prize money has been distributed. We are excited to develop new ways to continue supporting and improving charity governance in the UK, and we’ll continue working with our Awards partners and others across the third sector to support trustees.”

A place on the shortlist has secured all 15 charities a paid one-year membership of the Association of Chairs for their boards, and a complementary place on a Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme for a new member of their boards.

For the Charity Governance Awards, The Clothworkers’ Company – a City of London livery company that champions trusteeship initiatives – is partnered with not-for-profit consultancy NPC (New Philanthropy Capital), third sector recruitment specialists Prospectus and the trustee-matching charity Reach Volunteering.

You can follow the awards on LinkedIn and X/Twitter (@CharityGovAward) or by using the hashtag #CharityGov25. Winners will be announced on the website following the ceremony in June – for more information on the shortlist, past winners and more, visit www.charitygovernanceawards.co.uk.