CBM wins Business Weekly award
| Posted on: | Thursday, 21st March, 2019 |
CBM UK has been named as the winner of the Kate Gross Prize for Social Enterprise at the 29th annual Business Weekly Awards.
The awards ceremony took place on 20 March 2019 at Queens’ College, Cambridge, to celebrate leaders in business innovation. CBM UK’s Chief Executive, Kirsty Smith attended on the evening to accept the award.
Tony Quested, CEO of Business Weekly said: “It never ceases to amaze me how charitable organisations like CBM find the will and the wherewithal to battle a constant need for funding and continue to deliver essential, often life-saving but certainly life changing capability. We at Business Weekly and key players in the wider business community in Cambridge are willing CBM to hit their targets in the fantastic new appeal where funds raised will be matched by the UK government.”
On accepting this award, Kirsty Smith said: “We’re honoured to receive this award, which shows recognition of what team work can achieve, and the transformational impact that CBM’s work has. Having this recognised by industries outside the charity sector is a great testament to our staff, experts and partners around the world and our amazing supporters who enable our work to happen.”
Professor Ian Hutchings from St John’s College said in explaining why CBM won: “CBM tackles poverty, prevents blindness, improves health and changes the lives of disabled people around the world. Last year it protected 23 million people from blinding diseases, enabled 39,008 children with disabilities to go to school and restored sight to 413,468 people through cataract surgery.”
Business Weekly is a proud supporter of CBM’s See the Way appeal, helping to raise awareness and funds so that people with sight problems in the world’s poorest places can See the Way to a brighter future. Every day, people in the world’s poorest places become needlessly blind because of conditions that can be easily treated, like cataracts. Donations will help more people access sight-saving surgery, glasses and support so they can go to school, read and write, get around safely and support themselves and their families.
Until 14th May 2019, the UK government will double all public donations to CBM’s See the Way appeal up to £2 million. Public donations will support CBM’s work preventing blindness and transforming lives wherever the need is greatest. Match funding from the UK government will improve access to sight-saving eye-health services in Rwanda.