The Family Learning Awards Are Now Open For Nominations

A national award looking for the most imaginative, innovative and inclusive ways of delivering learning opportunities to families has opened for nominations.  

The Family Learning Awards, organised by the National Centre for Family Learning and Campaign for Learning, are free to enter for all organisations working with families in their communities to support learning.  

Any UK organisation – including, but not limited to, libraries, museums, community groups, schools, colleges, nurseries, third sector, and tech companies – can enter. This includes new applicants, as well as previous winners and shortlisted organisations.  

Miranda Baxter, Deputy Director (families), at Campaign for Learning, said: “There is an incredible amount of excellent and diverse programming in family learning taking place across the UK. The Family Learning Awards are an exciting way to showcase and encourage continued excellence, as well as increase the visibility and impact of family learning across sectors.  

“We also know that our wide family learning community values sharing their work and learning from each other and the awards enable these connections. If you are doing excellent work, please share it.” 

There are four categories for the 2026 Family Learning Awards:  

• Family Learning in the Early Years Award, in partnership with CACHE Alumni 

• Family Learning Innovation Award 

• Family Learning to Support Health and Wellbeing Award 

• Family Learning to Support STEM Award. 

Last year’s winner of the Family Learning Innovation Award, Durham University, collaborated with four local organisations to empower communities and make space science accessible. 

The ‘Street Cosmos’ project brought high-quality scientific and cultural experiences into community spaces, helping create opportunities for 11,000 people across 95 events to learn together and embed scientific curiosity. 

Ged Matthews, Senior Manager for Culture and Director of Street Cosmos at Durham University, said: “We entered the Family Learning Awards to highlight the great work the partnership has done and to honour the hard graft of many people across County Durham who have made Street Cosmos such a success.  

“It was amazing to see the genuine passion and enthusiasm for space, from the community centre staff, the scientists, the children, their parents and grandparents – and how the team managed to use art and creativity to bring it all together.” 

Winner of the Family Learning in the Early Years Award, The For Baby’s Sake Trust, was recognised for providing long-term, trauma-informed therapeutic support to over 700 families.  

The ‘For Baby’s Sake’ programme, dedicated to breaking cycles of domestic abuse and giving babies the best start in life, positively impacted more than 2,600 family members, providing them with tools and support to create lasting change. 

Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO, The For Baby’s Sake Trust, said: “We entered the Family Learning Awards because our work is centred on whole-family transformation, supporting learning, healing, and growth from pregnancy and throughout parenthood.  

“At the heart of For Baby’s Sake is a belief that change is possible if parents are given the right support to address the root causes of harm and are empowered to nurture and protect their baby. I’m most proud of the courage of the parents we work with and the dedication of our Therapeutic Practitioners. Every day, they demonstrate what’s possible when trauma-informed, whole-family support is provided to families.”  

The Family Learning Awards are open for nominations until 12pm on Thursday 19 March, with the winners to be announced in June 2026.