Recognition for Charles
Charles Cracknell received an Alumni Recognition Award at Graduation in October 2018. This award celebrates the achievements of an alumnus/a of the University of Winchester, or any of its predecessor institutions, who has made outstanding contributions to society.
Charles was nominated by his friends and fellow 1982 alumni Kevin Gillespie, BA (Hons) History with Drama and David Fernando, BA (Hons) English with Drama. Kevin and David, who served as President and Vice-President respectively of the Student Union 1982/83, joined Charles at Winchester Cathedral to celebrate his award with him.
Since graduating in 1982 with BA (Hons) History with Archaeology, Charles has devoted a substantial part of his working and voluntary life to supporting young people in the communities of the Humber region.
In his roles of Chief Executive of the Humber’s Careers Service and as the Youth Enterprise Manager of Hull City Council, he has worked tirelessly to help young people in the north-east to understand business and to develop a culture of enterprise.
Charles is the founder of the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank in Hull, and of the Hull Youth Enterprise Partnership. To date, the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank has supported over 450 young people. Each year Charles is involved in Hull’s Global Entrepreneurship Week which engages five to eighteen year olds with real-life business activities.
Charles’ work has achieved national recognition. In 2009 he received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise promotion and in 2015 was a judge in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
In 2017 Charles was included in the Smith & Williamson Power 100 – a listing of those who use their experience and expertise to provide vital support to help inspire, mentor, connect and professionalise the UK’s up-and-coming business.
Charles is also active in the Badgers Stett Enterprise Challenge which is supported by Dragon’s Den’s Ruth Badger. Ruth said “Charles’ commitment to supporting enterprising young people is infectious and he is relentless in his desire to support them. I often say that if each area in the UK had a Charles to galvanise a group to support young people with their enterprising ideas, we would be a lot better off as a country.”
Charles commented “I was shocked, delighted and honoured all rolled into one to have received this award for supporting enterprising young people especially as due to financial reasons at the time I was unable to attend my graduation in 1982. I wish to thank David and Kevin for nominating me and all the staff who at the University who made me feel very welcome and the whole event was great. I also want to wish this year’s graduates well in their future careers as they will be a real credit to the University.”
Back to alumni