Manchester Culture Awards 2018
Updated: Jun 13, 2020
Promotion of Equality and Diversity - Winner
The inaugural Manchester Culture Awards were held on 15th November 2018 and we were delighted to attend as we had been nominated in the 'Promotion of Equality and Diversity' category. The awards aimed to celebrate the wide variety of contributions that organisations around Manchester were making to the cultural scene of the city. The evening saw organisations from across Greater Manchester nominated in 14 categories, from 'Health and Wellbeing', to 'Best Business Partnership', to 'Outstanding Contribution'. Nominations ranged from established names in the city's cultural scene such as Manchester International Festival, to lesser known organisations such as ourselves. However, if one thing was clear, it was that every group nominated deserved that nomination for the cultural value they were adding to our city. (A full breakdown of nominations and winners can be seen here: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/winners-manchester-culture-awards-2018-15421303).
On the night, our category was one of the last to be read out (and it's fair to say that we were not expecting to win!) When Olympias Music was announced as the winner, the team did not react for several seconds as we were so shocked! We were nominated in such a strong field and congratulations must go to the others shortlisted in our category: Venture Arts,The Proud Trust, Women's Words and Armani Creatives, all of whom would have been equally deserving winners.
Olympias Music Foundation has only been running for three years and it is truly special to have been nominated alongside established landmarks of the Manchester cultural scene, such as The Hallé Orchestra and The Royal Exchange Theatre. Having our work recognised in this way is incredibly rewarding. However, as Saskia from Z-Arts said on the night: it is not about the event or the celebration, it is about the day to day work we do with Children's Voices, Women's Voices and giving instrumental lessons to disadvantaged children throughout the city.
Our thanks go to The Etihad Stadium and Luthfur Rahman for organising such a brilliant night of celebrations.
The Olympias Music Team
