2026 European Supported Employment Conference
2026 European Employment Conference
The BASE Awards are an opportunity to celebrate the wonderful work that takes place across our Supported Employment community.
Whether you work in education, represent a large employer, are part of a small team or are a Supported Employment leader, BASE wants to recognise your achievements within the inclusive recruitment sector.
Each award category aims to highlight the best practice taking place across Britain, using the Supported Employment model to change and enrich the lives of disabled, neurodivergent and disadvantaged people through good employment.
Nominations closed on 7 July 2025, with shortlisted nominees announced in September 2025. The awards recognise people, teams and employers making inclusive recruitment practical, visible and ambitious.
The awards bring together stories from across the sector and create a public moment to recognise people and organisations who are changing expectations around employment.
Download the full criteria to review eligibility, category detail and what nominators were asked to evidence.
All shortlisted nominees will be invited to the Awards Ceremony before the Conference Dinner.
A national role with a practical purpose
BASE helps make Supported Employment more clearly understood, more consistently delivered and better embedded across policy, commissioning and practice.
We work on behalf of our members and the people they support to ensure Supported Employment is understood, commissioned and delivered consistently across the UK.
Award Criteria
Each award category highlights best practice taking place across Britain, using the Supported Employment model to change and enrich the lives of disabled, neurodivergent and disadvantaged people through good employment.
Presented to a disabled person who inspires other people to have high aspirations in employment, has changed perceptions around what disabled people can achieve, or progressed in their chosen career. The nominee needs to have been in a paid role for 8 hours per week for a minimum of six months and be an advocate of good careers for others.
An opportunity to celebrate the huge innovation happening across the Supported Employment sector. From tech programmes to co-produced resources, this award recognises how innovation is driving up engagement within Supported Employment work.
Presented to an individual disrupting the status quo as a Disability Confident Ambassador. They have demonstrated leadership or advocacy that goes beyond a tick-box or logo, and are not afraid to push back on policies that do not support meaningful career pathways or disabled people in the workplace.
Recognises a large employer with over 1000 employees that has shown Disability Confidence leadership in action by embedding disability inclusion into policies, recruitment processes and training.
Celebrates the collective success of a large team of 30 plus people working in Supported Employment who have achieved high numbers of good quality employment outcomes for disabled, neurodivergent or disadvantaged people.
Celebrates an individual in a Supported Employment team who has gone above and beyond in promoting inclusive recruitment locally and nationally, demonstrating partnership working, innovative practice and high numbers of well-matched employment outcomes.
Celebrates smaller employers making a difference one person at a time within their local communities. This category recognises employers with less than 1000 employees who have embraced disability inclusion and embedded it into local recruitment.
Celebrates a small but highly effective team that uses limited resources for the greatest impact, with high ambition in promoting inclusive recruitment and strong partnerships within their community.
Recognises organisations that have embedded social value at the heart of a contract, including businesses using the Public Services Social Value Act to drive genuine inclusive recruitment or providers embedding social value to drive employment outcomes.
Celebrates the leadership of an individual who has supported a team to embed best practice and/or shown clear leadership through a challenging time. This award recognises the ability to create a supportive workplace culture, rather than the position someone holds.
All shortlisted nominees will be invited to the 2025 Awards Ceremony, taking place before the Conference Dinner on 17 November 2025 at Wembley Stadium.
Sponsor support helps BASE celebrate the people, teams and employers making inclusive recruitment visible across the Supported Employment community.
The full criteria PDF includes the award detail and evidence expectations for nominations.
