Some winners from the UK Social Mobility Awards 2022!
On Thursday 13th October 2022, we hosted the sixth UK Social Mobility Awards (SOMOs) Fundraising Gala at The Royal Lancaster London. This year, (for the first time in three years!), we were able to announce the winners at an in-person ceremony. It was an incredible night, and we were delighted to host around 500 guests.
SOMO 2022 Guests
We’re proud that the awards received the highest number of entries since they were first launched in 2017 – it was great to see such an impressive spread of entries from across the UK, including organisations, institutions, and individuals across industries such as education, finance, law, media and retail.
This year’s judging panel was chaired by Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE and judges were made up of leading figures in business, charity, politics, and the public sector, including the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Vincent Keaveny.
The SOMOs were established to recognise and celebrate those ensuring that the advancement of social mobility is a priority within their business. The work of these organisations – and the awards themselves – help to raise awareness of social mobility and in doing so bring about positive change. Each year, we work hard to encourage more organisations and institutions to showcase their social mobility achievements, as well as to inspire those who are early on in their social mobility journey or have not yet started.
The Kingdom Choir
The host for the evening was comedian and former TV Executive, Cally Beaton, who gave a brilliant introduction to the Awards and ensured the evening was narrated seamlessly. Guests were also witness to two fantastic performances by The Kingdom Choir.
The evening began with a moment to recognise our category champions and Gold Partner of this year’s Awards. Each organisation was presented with a Leading Light award acknowledging the contributions that they have made to social mobility this year. Following this, Steve Murrells CBE, businessman and former CEO of the Co-op Group, was then presented with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Social Mobility award.
John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager at the SOMOs Gold Partner, Amazon, had this to say about the SOMOs:
“I want to congratulate all the winners of this year’s SOMOs – some of the stories we heard were truly inspirational. These awards are so important in raising awareness, sharing best practice and celebrating the many ways organisations of all kinds across the UK are helping to drive social mobility.”
Rising Star Highly Commended, Molly Lewis from Freshfields
After dinner, the category winners were announced, and organisations collected their awards on stage, and gold and silver awards were received at tables. Celebrations continued into the night with a full dance floor! We want to say a massive thank you to everyone who was involved in the SOMOs over the past year, as well as anyone who trying to help advance social mobility in the UK. Your involvement in this movement is inspiring. We look forward to next year.
Once again, we would like to congratulate all of our winners and finalists for their achievements and for the amazing work they are doing.
Find out who our SOMO 2022 winners are: https://www.somo.uk/winners-2022/
Follow the UK Social Mobility Awards on social media for all the latest news and updates.
