Charities tackling disadvantage and the root causes of poverty will be honoured at the annual Centre for Social Justice Awards next week.

The event, which takes place in London, attracts high-profile figures from the worlds of politics, entertainment and business along with charities who are transforming communities across the UK.

Six cash prizes of £10,000 will be awarded to outstanding charities and small voluntary groups that are challenging the drivers of social breakdown and turning lives around.

Now in its ninth year, the CSJ Awards has brought over 80 winning voluntary groups to the attention of the national media and policy-makers and nearly £400,000 has been given out to date.

Videos of former winners are available to watch on the CSJ's YouTube page.

The CSJ will send an update about the event and details of the winners soon.

Children in the care system must have the same rights all other young people expect, a new CSJ report has said.

The briefing paper, I Never Left Care, Care Left Me, proposes a series of amendments to the ongoing Children and Families Bill.

The report highlights how vulnerable young people are often rushed through the care system and are forced to leave on or before their 18th birthday. It also says that a serious lack of accountability in local authorities often leads to the unnecessary separation of siblings and harmful and unwanted placement moves.

Amongst its amendments, the CSJ has said people should be allowed to remain in foster and residential care until 21. It also said looked after children should have better legal protections against local authorities.

The amendments were tabled and supported in the House of Lords and the CSJ is continuing to hold talks with Government.

This briefing paper is the first report from a larger body of work currently being undertaken by the CSJ and builds on the previous report Couldn’t Care Less.

New laws to tackle the horrors of modern slavery and human trafficking will be crafted by a series of official evidence sessions to be hosted by the CSJ.

Experts from the UK and the international community – including senior police officers, lawyers and charities – have been invited to outline what they think should be included in the Modern Slavery Bill. The sessions started this week.

Home Secretary Theresa May has asked leading Labour MP Frank Field to lead the evidence process in partnership with the CSJ.

The move comes just months after the CSJ produced its landmark report into modern slavery, It Happens Here. It called for legislation to consolidate human trafficking and slavery crimes, better protection for victims and harsher punishment for traffickers.

The study exposed the nature of modern slavery in the UK and outlined how current laws are too complex and often victims are treated as criminals.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “The Centre for Social Justice is at the forefront of this debate, which is why I have asked it to host this essential process – the evidence gathered in these sessions will greatly help to shape the Bill.”

For more information about the evidence sessions contact: csjevidence@centreforsocialjustice.org.uk

The CSJ has been involved in a debate on how to tackle loneliness – after it was claimed 800,000 people in England are chronically lonely.

CSJ Director Christian Guy was interviewed on BBC 5 Live and said the issue needs to be made a political priority. 

It followed a speech by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt who said there was "a forgotten million who live amongst us”, adding he was "particularly worried" about people who have been “parked” in care homes.

The CSJ has studied social care and loneliness amongst older people extensively and produced a number of key reports. Read The Forgotten Age, Age of Opportunity and Transforming Social Care for the Poorest Older People.

Earlier this year the CSJ said it was concerned vulnerable people in the social care system were being "stranded". It criticised the Dilnot proposals and said fresh investment in the sector should be used to transform the system for the poorest older people.

The CSJ has launched the latest instalment of its criminal justice programme with a report on probation.

The study, the New Probation Landscape, looks at the voluntary sector working in criminal justice, identifies its strengths and the role organisations can play in ongoing reforms to the system.

As part of the project, the CSJ surveyed charities of all sizes and asked how the Government's decision to move to a payment-by-results model would impact on them.