Ian Allsop reports on a glamorous night out with the charity sector’s star performers at the Charity Awards 2010 dinner.

Being a slave to childcare I don’t get out much these days but I always ensure that my papers are stamped and pass is secured for the Charity awards gala dinner. This glittering June evening, when the sector’s great and good get together to celebrate the achievements of charities, is the culmination of a rigorous process.

I was a judge for six years and always found it to be the most rewarding, and challenging, part of my then job as editor of Charity Finance. However, being involved to a lesser degree this year meant that for the first time in ages I was attending not knowing who the winners were. It felt like avoiding the score of a World Cup game I couldn’t watch during the day so as to enjoy the highlights properly in the evening. Therefore, you can imagine my surprise when Lorraine Chase scooped the top prize for management excellence.

But I had drifted off while wondering why Miss Uganda was in the room. Once I roused myself from my daydream, I saw CSV’s excellent volunteers in child protection project win the overall award. The only shame was that its outgoing chief executive Dame Elisabeth Hoodless had already left for the evening and missed her invitation to collect the award.

There has always been a small rumbling of dissenters suggesting that such lavish evenings are inappropriate given the nature of problems that charities are dealing with but I believe that by showcasing best practice, innovation (more on that in a minute) and inspiring work, the effectiveness of civil society will grow far more than if the sponsors gave their cash directly to a cause.

Of course, the focus of the night has to be on the charities and much of this is dictated by the compère. It is important to have a big Brand with credibility to steer the evening properly and the choice this year of Jo was well thought out. While she ticked a lot of the usual boxes (joke at signer’s expense by trying to make them sign a difficult or rude word? Check), her mix of trademark ribald sagacity and genuine empathy and admiration for the nominated organisations was perfect.

She had a thought-provoking running gag about the number of times the word innovation would be used during the evening and guests were invited to suggest an alternative. Perhaps what is really needed is an innovator to come up with something new, as the sector’s capacity to harness innovation to do good is one of its key defining characteristics.

The other memorable performance came from the minister for civil society Nick Hurd MP (pictured). As shrewd observer Acevo’s Stephen Bubb remarked in his blog recently that should Nick’s political career not work out he could always have one in showbiz. He was certainly great value when presenting the final award. One thing that did keep nagging me was that he has a look of Bill Murray about him and some of the announcements from the initial weeks of the coalition government do seem strangely familiar. In a sort of a groundhog Day kind of way. From 1982.

I remarked to several people that he doesn’t look like his father. I met Douglas once, at a dinner he was hosting. he entered the room looking like his spitting Image puppet after liposuction. I was introduced to him as a magazine editor and he asked which one. I said “Charity Finance” and he replied without missing a beat: “Oh yes, I read that”. My thought process at this stage went something along the following lines: No. You. Don’t. and I wouldn’t expect you to. It seemed like an inbuilt politician’s reaction to say what he thought the person wanted to hear and I wonder if he would have responded similarly if I had been editor of Cosmopolitan or Razzle.

However, my reservations about both his health and sharpness of mind were quashed as he came alive after dinner. He regaled the audience with 30 minutes plus questions (most of which he answered directly) of entertaining and insightful oratory and, whatever your politics, if his son has any of his father’s clarity of argument and thought then the sector will be served well. He will certainly have a tough job juggling the different demands of the sector’s sub-divisions against a background of austerity. Very much an exercise in hurding cats. Or cuts.

I am sure Douglas will now be reading this chuckling to himself at how I doubted him. But if his subscription has gone astray in the post, his son can show him his copy. Because it would be an underinformed civil society minister who didn’t read Charity Finance. Although, admittedly he could probably get away without reading the irreverence on the page facing the inside back cover.