Charity Learning Award 2025: Celebrating Excellence in Learning and Development
The Charity Learning Consortium (CLC) is proud to announce the winners of the Charity Learning Awards 2025, recognising outstanding achievements across our learning community. Each year, we celebrate individuals and teams who exemplify creativity, collaboration, and commitment to making learning a force for good.
The winners are:
Outstanding Dedication: Liz Sheeran, RSPCA
Rising Star of L&D: Louisa Merchant-Locke, St Peter’s Hospice
Excellence in Mentoring: Andrea Varga, WWF-UK
Community Champion: Joe Brooks, St Margaret’s Hospice
L&D Team of the Year: LDN London
L&D Professional of the Year: Claire Pulman, Forward Trust
Our 2025 winners:
Outstanding Dedication: Liz Sheeran, RSPCA
Liz has been a long-standing member of the Charity Learning Consortium through her work at RSPCA. Her dedication and partnership over the years perfectly embody what the CLC stands for: collaboration and mutual support. Working together to tackle challenges and celebrate successes has been a genuine pleasure. Liz’s commitment and loyalty shine as a true example of what it means to be part of our community.
Rising Star of L&D: Louisa Merchant-Locke, St Peter's Hospice
Louisa has already made a tremendous impact in learning and development. Working with her colleague, Suz Taylor, she has revolutionised charity retail training at St Peter’s Hospice and earlier this year they shared their inspiring work at our London Members’ Meeting. Their mission is clear: to become the best on the high street by empowering teams with consistent, high-quality training. We’re excited to see where Louisa’s enthusiasm and innovation take her next!
Excellence in Mentoring: Andrea Varga, WWF-UK
Andrea (Andi) Varga, Learning and Development Manager, WWF-UK, has embedded mentoring as a core part of professional growth and organisational culture. In just seven months, Andi launched and championed the Charity Mentoring Network (CMN) within WWF-UK, shifting development from traditional training to a culture of continuous learning. Her inclusive, employee-led approach removed barriers and made mentoring accessible and engaging for all.
Leading by example as both a mentor and a mentee, Andi builds trust and enthusiasm across the organisation. Her focus on quality, sustainability, and genuine connection has created a strong foundation for career growth and empowerment.
Andi has made mentoring a lasting part of WWF-UK’s learning culture, inspiring connection, growth, and continuous learning across the organisation.
Community Champion: Joe Brooks, St Margaret's Hospice
Joe is the embodiment of collaboration. Always active within the CLC community, he keeps conversations alive between meetings, sharing knowledge, insights, and encouragement.
Passionate about creating communities of practice, he fosters collaboration between charities with shared missions, whether through events or our CLC WhatsApp group.
At the Consortium, collaboration is at our core, and it’s a joy to work with such a true community champion.
L&D Team of the Year: LDN London
Working closely with the CLC team, the LDN London team has embraced change to deliver measurable results. By fully utilising platform features such as Team Insight and Learning Pathways, they’ve achieved impressive ROI and boosted compliance across their organisation.
They committed to a significant project to revamp their site – a substantial undertaking that demonstrated their dedication to improving the learning experience. The team shows genuine curiosity about our ongoing developments, keen to stay informed and make the most of the platform’s capabilities. They’re proactive, inquisitive and never hesitant to ask whether the LMS can support specific functionality.
Their commitment to continuous improvement, innovation and collaboration makes them a truly worthy winner of this award.
L&D Professional of the Year: Claire Pulman, Forward Trust
Over the past year, Claire has also generously shared her expertise with peers through our Virtual Members’ Meeting, on our website and in the Charity Learning Times. Her professionalism and impact set a standard for excellence.
Congratulations to all our 2025 winners!
These remarkable individuals and teams represent the best of what our community can achieve when we learn, share, and grow together. We’re incredibly proud to celebrate their achievements and look forward to seeing the impact they continue to make.
“We’re honoured to celebrate the incredible work of these L&D professionals and teams who have truly excelled in their roles,” said Martin Baker, CEO and founder of the Charity Learning Consortium. “Their contributions not only strengthen their own organisations but also serve as an inspiring example for the wider charity sector, which continues to face severe financial challenges. By achieving so much with limited resources, our members demonstrate the true impact of doing more with less, showing how continuous learning and development can thrive even in the toughest times.”
The Charity Learning Consortium congratulates all of this year’s winners and looks forward to another year of innovative L&D initiatives across the charity sector.
CL Consortium Ltd
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The Charity Mentoring Network: A community platform that connects organisations, staff and volunteers together.
