Sofia, June 1, 2019
The National Network for Children (NNC) organized the “Golden apple” awards for a ninth consecutive year. The awards are a sign of acknowledgment for the effort that different people, organizations and institutions put into improving the life and well-being of children in Bulgaria. The awards were officially handed out on the eve of June 1st - World Children’s Day at Bulgaria Chamber Hall.
The event was attended by the Minister of Education and Science and the Minister of Labour and Social Policy as well as the Chairman of the State Agency for Child Protection. “Very often the people working with children are silent and invisible and their work remains unappreciated. That’s why they absolutely deserve these awards since all of us count on these people in the educational system to take care of our children and surround them with love and understanding”, commented Minister Vulchev.
The awards are in eight categories – “Children’s hero”, “School”, “Hospital”, “Municipality”, “Journalist”, “Benefactor”, “Award for overall contribution to the Network for Children” and a “Special award”. In the “Children’s hero” category the nominations come from the general public on the “Golden apple” initiative’s website. The selection of the winner is done by public vote. The nominations in the rest of the categories are made by the 152 member organizations of the Network for Children from all over the country.
This year in the “Children’s hero” category there were 12 nominated people and their causes and as a winner was selected Antonina Kenova, who works for building a fair, innovative and quality system for educating the youngest. The award was presented to her by last year’s winners Dr. Tanya Andreeva and Denitza Mukova – creators of the Healthy Kids application which helps parents to get orientated which medical centre is the most suitable in case their child has a health problem
The award in the “School” category was won by the “Prof. Nikolay Rainov” specialized art high school in Sofia – a really different school where creativity comes first and the students prefer to be in class instead on vacation. The award in the “Hospital” category was given to the Neonatology Ward of the Second Specialized OB/Gyn Hospital “Sheinovo” in Sofia. The prize for “Municipality” was awarded to Radnevo Municipaity. The award in the “Journalist” category went to Lilyana Boyanova from bTV whose long-standing work is dedicated to social topics, children’s rights and their families. The award for “Benefactor” received Fusion Academy and its founders. They support financially and with volunteer work their mission so that every child grows up safe, happy and loved in a family environment.
For us it’s a well deserved joy that the award for overall contribution went to Dr. Radosveta Stamenkova – Executive Director of the Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association. The award was given to her, because she is “a real mentor to young people from the most vulnerable groups of our society and other topics she works on are related to reproductive health, health and sexual education, social equality and access of vulnerable youth to healthcare, education and social services”.
A special award was given to all architects and architectural studios who participated in the competition for an architectural design of the Children’s house. And the awards this year were “knitted” by “We Knit for Bulgarian Children” who won the “Golden apple” award in the “Children’s Hero” category in 2017 and who create beautiful hand knitted toys for different charity initiatives.
