Body Confidence Awards: Shortlist Announced

Posted on Oct 08, 2014

The 2014 Body Confidence Awards will be hosted at the House of Commons on 16th October. Leading organisations, charities and businesses including Girlguiding, Jamie Oliver Foundation and Selfridges Beauty Project are included on the shortlist.

The event will recognise and celebrate those who are leading the way in promoting body confidence through education, health, media and advertising.

The awards take place during Body Confidence Week (13-19 October) which marks the launch of a new national movement, aiming for everyone in the UK to be body confident. The campaign has been developed by a partnership of charities, brands and influential trade associations, in response to the Reflections on Body Image report from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Body Image published in 2012. This report highlighted that low body confidence is a critical public health issue, damaging lives and affecting more than 60 percent of the UK population.

The 10 awards are categorised under the campaign’s strategic pillars - education, health and diversity - and the winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony at the House of Commons. Presenters include Jameela Jamil, Gok Wan, paralympian Stef Reid, fashion commentator Caryn Franklin, columnist Viv Groskop and comedienne Juliette Burton. The shortlist has been selected by a judging panel made up of experts, researchers and leaders within the three core fields.

The spectrum of nominees demonstrates the wide range of factors that influence how people feel about their bodies. Shortlisted entries were chosen for their impact on improving body confidence, whether this was through a grass roots approach, reaching under-represented people, challenging perceptions of beauty, their scale or reach, or igniting debate and seeking to mainstream diversity. 

 

The shortlisted organisations are as follows:


Education

Award: Education in schools and colleges
Shortlist: Self Esteem Team, Golddigger Trust Sheffield

Award: Education outside schools and colleges
Shortlist: Girlguiding UK,  Manchester YMCA

Health

Award: Healthy eating
Shortlist: BEAT, Jamie Oliver Foundation

Award: Physical activity
Shortlist: Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, Youth Sport Trust - Girls Active

Diversity

Award: Responsible media and advertising
Shortlist: Cosmopolitan, Guardian Body Image

Award: Responsible beauty
Shortlist: Lancome & Lupita Nyong’o, Selfridges – The Beauty Project

Award: Responsible fashion
Shortlist: ASOS Curves, Diesel & Jillian Mercado
 

Special Awards

Award: Dove self-esteem: An organisation or individual who has made a real and inspirational difference to self-esteem and body confidence
Shortlist: Breast Cancer Care and Jill Hindley, Heather Shekede and Ismena Clout, Young Minds 

Award: Body confidence campaigner of the year
Shortlist: Girlguiding, Susie Orbach

Award: People’s choice
Shortlist: Adele, Gok Wan, James Partridge, Sarah Millican, Stefanie Reid, Tyger-Drew Honey

 

The evening will be hosted by Caroline Nokes MP, chair of the APPG on Body Image.

Caroline Nokes, MP, says: “This year’s awards come at an exciting time for body confidence as we unveil a new national movement that aims for everyone in the UK to be body confident. As our shortlist shows, so many organisations are making headway in this space, but in order to truly make a difference we need to bring it all together and unite our expertise and knowledge. I would like to congratulate all our shortlisted nominees for contributing to such a complicated and personal issue, and wish them all the best for the evening.”

 

Winners will be announced on Thursday 16th October.