The Sandford St Martin 2023 Awards Ceremony

The 2023 Awards ceremony was held on 21 June 2023 at Whitworth Hall, Manchester.

Our thanks to everyone who entered their content for an award this year.

You can watch the overture to the ceremony featuring some of the content-makers whose work makes these awards so special below. Or click to find out more about this year’s winners, the 2023 finalists and our excellent judges.

A message from our Chair, Dr Tony Stoller CBE

“The Sandford St Martin 2023 Awards was a very special awards ceremony. Special because not only were we celebrating some of the best broadcasting in the UK, but also on the 45th anniversary of the Sandford St Martin Trust, we took the awards to Manchester. Where better than Manchester to mark the occasion, with its long history of welcoming people from different communities and faiths, and a city which exemplifies resilience and opportunity. We felt it to be the perfect venue to catch up with old friends, to meet new ones and to celebrate the best religious and ethical broadcasting.

“There was probably nobody in the room who is unaware of the ongoing debate around the future of public service broadcasting. Whether it’s Channel 4, or the BBC, or the challenges around safeguarding online content, broadcasting and the media are very hot issues. The awards are not going to resolve any of these issues, but they do shine a spotlight on the creativity, production excellence and the immense value of some core public service content: that’s broadcast content that explores religion, ethics or spirituality. Programmes that are not just great entertainment but that also educate, enlighten and inform because they explore the big questions and reflect the rich diversity of cultures and beliefs that make up our world.”