Crystal Peaks wins top national award with Art for All Exhibition

A major new summer art event at Crystal Peaks shopping centre which raised £10,000 for the Bright Young Dreams campaign in support of The Children’s Hospital Charity has won a major national award.

Art For All featured specially commissioned works by more than 60 celebrities and creatives with links to South Yorkshire and beyond, including Olympic legend Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, BBC Radio Sheffield favourite Paulette Edwards and comedians Jon Richardson of 8 Out of 10 Cats and Paul Chuckle of the Chuckle Brothers.

All of the participants put their artistic skills to use for free with their works then displayed as part of an exhibition in the central atrium at Crystal Peaks throughout the summer of 2024.

Every canvas was also placed in an an online raffle, eventually raising £10,000 for the Bright Young Dreams campaign, which was founded by Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill in 2023 to help address the urgent global crisis in children’s mental health.

And now the event, which was organised by Crystal Peaks office administrator Clare Burnett, has been awarded the  Best Community Initiative Purple Apple Award at the Revo’s, the annual celebration hosted by Revo, the UK’s leading membership organisation focused on retail and leisure-led real estate.

The awards showcase excellence, innovation and achievement within the sector and are widely regarded as the benchmark for excellence in the retail property industry, championing the most innovative and impactful contributions across the UK.

For nearly 40 years, the annual awards have showcased the best in development, investment, asset management, operations, customer experience, and destination marketing in the sector, specifically recognising community and marketing initiatives that demonstrate creativity, impact, and the ability to engage with the community.

Following deliberation from the judging panel, Crystal Peaks was ultimately named the winner for the Best Community Initiative award, which recognises the most impactful work done by centre teams, through initiatives that have delivered positive social outcomes.

The judges were inspired by Crystal Peak’s art-based initiative, praising its powerful collaboration with schools, charities, and the wider community, focusing on support for children’s mental health. Its low-cost, zero-waste approach, strong engagement, and lasting community impact set a benchmark for grassroots initiatives.

Art for All, the judges said, was a standout example of how creativity and collaboration can drive real social change.

Vivienne King, Chair of the Executive Board at Revo, commented: “The annual Revo’s once again highlighted the outstanding achievements taking place across the sector, with a strong turnout from leading professionals, organisations, and innovators.

“Revo is a big believer in retail-led real estate as a powerful contributor to community pride, and Crystal Peaks clearly understand that value, having shaped an initiative that delivered tangible benefit for its visitors.

“A huge congratulation to the Crystal Peaks team for their efforts and genuine emphasis on creating positive social impact.”

Art For All organiser Clare Burnett said: “Crystal Peaks is a massively enthusiastic supporter of The Children’s Hospital Charity and the exhibition was extremely popular with all our visitors.

“Even so, I had no idea that it would go on to be nominated for a national award and I can only thanks all the fantastic artists who gave their time so generously and all the people who visited and put in their bids for one of the works of art.

“Crystal Peaks always sees itself as being right at the heart of the community it serves and, as such, we believe Art For All really did make a really important contribution to the Bright Young Dreams campaign.”