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The Michael Howard Team of the Year Award recognises the importance of collaborative partnerships and services to reach more people and deliver better outcomes at the end of life. 

The 2025 Award is now open for nominations! The winners will be announced at the Hospice UK National Conference in Liverpool in November.

About the award

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This award celebrates an outstanding team that has made a positive impact to its hospice, its service users or staff.

Open to all teams within a hospice from fundraising to finance, from HR to clinical, this award honours a hospice team that has gone gone above and beyond, made transformational change or shown commitment to collaboration and innovation.

If a team at your hospice has had a significant positive impact on the community it serves, nominate them for the Michael Howard Hospice Team of the Year award.

This award is named in honour of Michael Howard, Rt. Hon. Lord Howard of Lympne, CH, KC, former Chair and currently a Vice President of Hospice UK's Board of Trustees.

What the judges are looking for

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Read our submission criteria and general guidance

When making your nomination, please tell us:

  • What makes this team outstanding? 
  • What has the team delivered?
  • Why have they been successful?
  • How has this team delivered a positive impact? 
  • What difference has the team made?
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Enter now

To nominate someone for the 2025 award, please complete our short online form.

The deadline for submitting entries and nominations is 5pm on Monday 8 September 2025. 

The winners will be announced at our National Conference in Liverpool from 25-27 November 2025.

Previous winners

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Find out more about previous winners of the Michael Howard Award for Hospice Team of the Year (formerly named Towergate Hospice Team of the Year Award).

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Sophie Andrews OBE, Chief Executive of Noah's Ark Children's Hospice, receives the Michael Howard Hospice Team of the Year award 2024

2024 Winners: The Family Link Team, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice

The Family Link Team at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in Barnet is a relatively small team with a huge impact. The team have continually received exceptional feedback for their dedication to the children and families they support, often with unmet needs beyond palliative care. 

The Family Link Team at Noah's Ark Children's Hospice are a shining example of a team who have gone above and beyond, creating truly life changing partnerships to support the children and families they serve.

Pictured: Sophie Andrews OBE, Chief Executive of Noah's Ark Children's Hospice, receives the award.

More about the Family Link Team
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The Pendleside "Meals on Wheels" Team are the winners of the 2023 Michael Howard Award for Hospice Team of the Year

2023 Winners: The Pendleside 'Meals on Wheels' Team

The judging panel were impressed with how this team has expanded the hospice’s care into the local community. As well as delivering meals to vulnerable, isolated, and frail people it also provides a welfare check-in on them. In the last two years the service has generated a £35,000 surplus which has been used to fund patient care at the hospice.

The Awards Panel commented: “We were particularly impressed with this entry, and how the largely volunteer workforce consistently show commitment and outstanding service to the community, all year-round."

Find out more about Pendleside Hospice
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St Columba's Hospice Care: Family Support Team are the 2022 Towergate Hospice Team of the Year

2022 Winners: St Columba's Hospice Care: Family Support Team

As a self-styled small team with big impact, the Family Support Team at St Columba’s Hospice Care in Edinburgh has continued to expand and adapt over the past year, offering a successful, blended model of delivery which has improved accessibility for patients and family members. 

Judges were impressed by “the sheer range of work that this small team were doing, working with bereaved young people and adults and offering training to nursery and school staff, student nurses and facilitating ECHO sessions for district nurses. They are a shining example of a team who have gone above and beyond.”

Find out about St Columba's Family Support team
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Mountbatten Community Team won the Towergate Hospice Team of the Year Award in 2021

2021 Winners: Mountbatten Community Team

Over the past 18 months, the team  underwent huge transformation in an already difficult year. It was completely restructured to provide a specialist hospice at home, domiciliary care nursing service for people in their last years and at end of life.

This is a great example of transformational change, resulting in increase efficiency and a huge positive impact on the community it serves. This has been achieved by working differently and more efficiently as a team, using a range of different skill mixes and experiences, rather than by increasing the staff numbers or budget.

The changes made at Mountbatten could help other hospices address the demand for more community led nursing services.

Find out more about Mountbatten Hospice