Diahanne Rhiney

Nominations roll in for prestigious London inaugural ceremony The Baton Awards 2018 celebrating pioneering BAME women at the Houses of Parliament.

Hundreds of nominations already submitted from all over the world ‘Celebrating BAME women of past, present and future.’ Esteemed panel of pioneering judges gear up to shortlist the UK’s brightest BAME nominees.

Confirmed hosts for the evening are award-winning BAME pioneers, Broadcaster and journalist Charlene White Sky TV broadcaster Gillian Joseph.

The Baton Awards 2018 has been designed not only to inspire BAME women, by celebrating pioneers and innovators, but to actively activate change at a grassroots level and create a surge in the myriad of industries that aren’t being accessed by the female BAME community. Winners will receive their Baton Award 2018, from one of the pioneering predecessors (torchbearers) in the field they have succeeded in and receive ongoing mentoring from their BAME industry pioneer.

‘Not so long ago I was the intern, the green hopeful in the newsroom but now advancing years and experience have placed me firmly in the position of Mentor. It’s a role I actually relish as it is imperative that the baton is passed on, and that is precisely what the awards hope to achieve.’ Sky’s Gillian Joseph, The Baton Awards co-host.

Hundreds of nominations have already been sent in from all over the world and includes distinguished BAME actress Mona Hammond Hammond OBE, best known for her role in EastEnders. In 2018, Hammond was awarded the Women of the World Lifetime Achievement Award for her long and distinguished theatre career, and for championing black British actors with Talawa Theatre Company.
Nominations close at 5pm on October 5th with 12 categories of entry recognising the passion, dedication and challenges faced by BAME women.

This year’s awards – the inaugural event, is being held on November 29th at the Houses of Parliament. Importantly, applications to every category are encouraged from Scotland, Ireland and Wales, as well as England in the main categories with a category for international BAME women. Judges include an array of British BAME Pioneers including former athlete Michelle Moore: who has been featured in The Independent’s 50 Most Influential Women in Sport and won an acclaimed UK Change Maker award in 2015 for her contribution to sport for social change. Also, Dr Shola Mos Shogbamimu, leader at the Women’s March on London in 2017, and co-organiser of the 21 January Time’s Up protest and Stylist’s Woman of the Week.*

Founder Dr Diahanne Rhiney BCAe says, ‘We have been blown away by both the quality and quantity of the nominations we have received so far. We really want to shatter the glass ceiling with this event by paving the way for BAME women so please take the time to nominate as many deserving candidates as you can think of so that we have as many great examples from every level of industry as possible.’

The evenings hosts are, Charlene White, an award-winning presenter and senior broadcast journalist at BBC Look East, Radio 5 Live Morning Reports, BBC Three 60 Seconds and BBC News. White was the first black woman to present ITV News at Ten and occasionally co-presented this until October 2015. Also, award-winning Sky TV broadcaster Gillian Joseph, who has covered the Royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton and the death of Nelson Mandela and has been presented with a Commission for Racial Equality award for her reporting.