Nottinghamshire Hospice was named ‘Rising Star’ in the first ever East Midlands Charity Awards at a glitzy ceremony at Nottingham’s Crowne Plaza last week.

The hospice won the plaudit in the Fundraising Event category for its work on the Hoodwinked 2018 project which attracted thousands of visitors last summer and raised £133,300 for the hospice.

Rowena Naylor-Morrell, Chief Executive at Nottinghamshire Hospice said: “We’d never done an event on the scale of Hoodwinked before and we made a fabulous success of it.  It was great to have this recognised.

“We’re thrilled to receive the Rising Star award which is a tribute to all our staff, volunteers and partners who worked so hard to make Hoodwinked such a triumph.”

The East Midlands Charity Awards is a new scheme aimed at promoting and recognising charities and not-for-profit organisations and to show appreciation to people across the sector who have had a positive impact on their communities.

The event saw finalists from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire compete for awards across 14 different categories.

“It was a delight to see such an overwhelming response to our inaugural awards,” said event founder Phoebe Benta. “The atmosphere at the event was inspiring. The collaboration that will take place between charities after this event will be incredible.”