For the eleventh consecutive year National Network for Children organizes Golden Apple Awards, which are awarded to individuals, organizations and institutions that have contributed to the improvement of the life and well-being of Bulgarian children.
The awards were presented on May 31, at a special ceremony held live and online. The hosts of the event were the radio journalist Dragomir Simeonov and Janet Hadjieva and Adelina Nalbantova from the youth network “Megaphone”.
The Golden Apple Awards are given in the categories “Children’s Hero”, “Children’s Organization”, “School”, “Hospital”, “Municipality”, “Journalist”, “Charity” and the Award for Overall Contribution.
“11 years ago we did not imagine that Golden Apple Awards would become one of the most significant events on the eve of Children’s Day on June 1, which features the children’s heroes of the past year,” said Georgi Bogdanov, Executive Director of National Network for Children
National Network for Children, together with several nominating organizations, posthumously presented the “Hero of Children” award to Dr. Adil Kadum, dedicated to the treatment of children and an active participant in the National Citizens’ Initiative for the establishment of a new children’s hospital.
The 11th edition of the Golden Apple Awards received a total of 54 nominations.
The categories “Hero of the Children” and “Children’s Organization” were open for nomination and voting by the whole public, and this year more than 2,000 participants voted.
In the other categories, the 140 member organizations of National Network for Children submit nominations. The jury, which took on the difficult task of choosing the winners, included: Alexandra Mircheva – Education Coalition 2030, Yuliana Koleva – National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria, Elena Atanasova – UNICEF Bulgaria, Alexei Pamporov – sociologist from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS, the journalist Lora Fileva, Dr. Boyana Petkova – founder of the Ida Foundation, Krassimira Velichkova – director of the Bulgarian Donors’ Forum. The young people from Megaphone also participated in the jury and presented the youth voice.
During the Golden Apple 2021 ceremony, National Children’s Network presented the Child Friendly Company Certificate, which is awarded to companies that develop supportive policies for the benefit of children and create a favorable environment for their employees with children and their families. Georgi Bogdanov and Dr. Jane Muita – UNICEF Official Representative for Bulgaria, presented the first certificates. The first three companies – friends of the children – are: “Lidl Bulgaria”, “A1” and “Unicredit Bulbank”.
The winners of the Golden Apple 2021 are:
In the category “School”: 90 SU “Gen. Jose de San Martin ”, Sofia
In the category “Municipality”: Lukovit municipality
In the category “Charity”: “General Insurance”
In the category “Journalist”: Nadezhda Tsekulova
For the second year in a row, no hospital award was given
Award for overall contribution: Georgi Apostolov
In the Children’s Organization category: TimeHeroes Foundation
Special Hero of the Children Award – Dr. Adil Kadum, posthumously
“Hero of the Children”: Elitsa Uzunova
More information about the nominees and winners of the “Golden Apple” can be found at http://1june.nmd.bg/
