Every year, the Charity Learning Awards judges are more than impressed with the stories of creativity and determination that entrants have used to create learning resources on a shoestring budget. But in this year’s submissions, two stories of creating “more for less” really shone:

• Stella O’Neill at CRI (the Crime Reduction Initiatives charity) was faced with a seemingly impossible task: with no budget for resources and a tight, two-month deadline, she had to ensure that 3,000 staff were compliant in information security. In a great example of collaboration, with practical help from mentors and support from the eLearning community, she created a module that earned the prize for the Best eLearning programme.
   
• Also with no budget, Nicola Tyzack from the National Autistic Society used her imagination to create a multimedia mix of online resources to engage and support eLearners. The judges of the Charity Learning Awards 2015 were extremely impressed by her results and honoured her organisation with the award for the Best use of resources. The National Autistic Society also won the award for the Most effective use of Moodle for blended learning, after seamlessly integrating the online Toolkit for Managers into the charity’s learning-management system to great effect.

Other award winners also showed their prowess in using, creating, and marketing eLearning to engage with learners and achieve demonstrable results:

• Laura Skilton helped create an engaging eLearning activity at Cats Protection that is helping the UK’s leading cat charity save vital resources, empower staff, and help meet the organisation’s vision. The short eLearning activity achieved all of that and won the Charity Learning Award 2015 for the Best eLearning module design.
   
• At Shaw Trust, the UK’s largest provider of employment services for disabled and disadvantaged people, Anand Yagnik has established eLearning as an invaluable means of engaging hard-to-reach customers. The charity’s blended approach, which includes coaching and one-on-one assessment, also uses eLearning to successfully support its clients’ integration into the workplace. The charity won the award for Organisational buy-in: Raising the L&D profile.

Martin Baker, founder and CEO of the Charity Learning Consortium, was full of praise for the efforts of everyone who took part. He commented, “It’s great to see our members really making a difference with demonstrable results, not just in engaging staff, but by changing their behaviours. Congratulations to all our winners; huge thanks to everyone who submitted an entry; and kudos to all the unsung eLearning heroes out there who don’t get the recognition they so richly deserve.”