The Scottish Charity Awards will now take place in September - with the deadline for applying extended until the end of April

A popular awards ceremony has been moved till later in the year, with the deadline for applications.

The Scottish Charity Awards 2020 was due to take place in June, but has now been moved to Friday 25 September.

And the deadline for applying for the awards has been extended until 30 April, to give organisations more time to apply.

A statement from organisers the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) said: “Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we realise that many organisations have had to refocus their efforts in responding to the current situation and to supporting others. With that in mind we have decided to extend the deadline for entries for this year’s awards to 5pm on 30 April 2020.

“The awards ceremony that was due to take place in June has now been postponed to Friday 25 September 2020.

“We’ll be keeping you up-to-date with any further changes and developments over the coming weeks.”

The awards celebrate the amazing work that people within charities and community groups do every day, all over the country, to help those in need and raise awareness of important causes.

In 2019, 44 finalists were shortlisted, nine won awards and an additional four received special commendations for their work.

This year’s awards take place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Friday, 25 September.

There are eight Scottish Charity Award categories - Charity of the Year, Charity Champion, Cracking Campaign, Pioneering Project, Celebrating Communities, Terrific Trustee and Demonstrating Digital – which are decided by a judging panel, and a special People’s Choice Award which is decided by the public and last year received a record-breaking 34,810 votes.

To find out more and apply, visit the Scottish Charity Awards website.