The Mainframe Awards were held at QUAD on Wednesday 6th April to a room full of creatives, whom have been missed for the last two years.
Previously, the awards in 2018 and 2019, were in person - with the 2020 and 2021 awards streamed. So, for the fifth year and moving with the times, the awards went hybrid this year, thanks to the brilliant technical excellence and support from Lindley Productions and Tech-Squad and the awards wouldn't be the Mainframe awards without Adam Buss hosting.
The evening was all about celebrating and highlighting the digital and creative industry, businesses and individuals in Derby and Derbyshire.
The evening did not disappoint and all the judges echoed the same sentiment in that it was difficult to make their choices, from receiving all of the submissions to whittling it down to three to choosing their winner.
So, who won? Here are the winners of this years Mainframe Awards 2022:
Award: Make & Trade 
Judged By: Nicki Capewell (Pedddle and Tresstle) @pedddleuk
Winner:
On winning, Lesley said;
“Thank you Pedddle and Mainframe for this incredible honour! We’ll continue to work hard to do our best to live up to this award. Huge congrats to the other finalists for doing such a great job and representing Derby so well – we love our city!”
Award: Best Local Network 
Judged By: Stephen Goddard & Chevalier Philip Brooks-Stephenson, KL (KuKu Connect) @kukuconnect
Winner: Rachel Hayward & Lee Marples - Derby Swap Shop Ltd @theukswapshop
On winning, Rachel said;
Lee and I are so delighted that Derby Swap Shop and our UK wide swapping platform - the UK Swap Shop - have been chosen as the Best Network for Mainframe Awards 2022. This award very much goes to all our members who put their trust in us and swapped their business skills, talents, products and services with each other throughout the pandemic and beyond, as a way of supporting their small businesses to build, thrive and survive. Many made new business connections that led to positive commercial results, and is a testament to the ingenuity and resilience of the UK small creative business economy.
Award: Emerging Digital/Creative Star (Under 25) 
Judged By: Phil Basi (University of Derby) @derbyuni
Winner: Nathan Addai - Mental Roots @mentalrootspod
On winning, Nathan said;
“This is certainly a long time in the making for me, despite my age! After many award shortlistings, it is highly rewarding to finally win an award for my creative work; especially from my most meaningful project to date, Mental Roots. Thank you to the Mainframe Awards for recognising the significance of this media movement using animation, podcasting and poetry to liberate other young black people in their mental health journeys.”
Award: Mainframe Unsung Hero
Judged By: Daniel Poole (Derby Theatre) @derbytheatre
Winner:
‘"It was an absolute honour to be nominated for an award, let alone shortlisted and then win! Derby Community Parent Programme CIC, like many other voluntary and community sector organisations, had to get pretty creative about the way we work, pretty quickly during the pandemic – what we lack in finance & resource is more than matched with passion and energy. Thank you to Mainframe for recognising that creativity comes in all shapes and sizes – our team & volunteers are so creative in the ways they think outside of the box to get support right for the parents & families at the heart of our work, from setting up online communities & facilitating connections with partners during labour & birth, when COVID prevented them from attending the birth. It is lovely to see the awards recognise the volunteers and all of their hard work – a massive thank you to all involved!’’
Thank you thank you thank you!
Award: Digital Disruptor 
Judged By: Keith Cox & Chris Hotham (Bloc Digital) @blocdigitalltd
Winner:
On winning, Owain said;
"As an early-stage music tech startup having our work recognised through the Mainframe Awards has been an incredible experience and to win the Digital Disruptor category is even better! We hope to continue to add value to the talented creative community that calls Derby and Derbyshire home.”
Award: Best Digital/Creative Start-Up
Judged By: Karen Newman (Birmingham Open Media) @bomlab
Winner: Inside Theatre @insidetheatre
On winning, Rebecca said;
We are delighted to win this award. Creating a new business along with innovative new technology during a global pandemic was no mean feat. This award is a testimony to the dedication and hard work of our entire team during a very difficult time.
Award: Best Digital/Creative Upscaler 
Judged By: Andrew Liddell (Creative UK) @wearecreativeuk
Winner: Codemakers
Award: Putting Derby/Derbyshire on the Map
Judged By: Paul Simpson (Derby City Council)
Winner: Codemakers
On winning both awards, Antony said;
"We are absolutely thrilled to have won both categories we entered this year - we definitely weren’t expecting it as we were up against some very worthy competitors. These awards are testament to our team, who have adapted so well to the changing working environments over the last couple of years and recognise their dedication to creating world-class digital products. We are proud of being a mainstay of Derby’s digital and creative sector and feel fortunate to have the support of Mainframe championing our community.”
Award: Creativity for Good
Judged By: Kerry Andrews (Level Centre) @levelcentre
Winner: Ava Hunt - Ava Hunt Theatre CIO / Sinfonia Viva, Orchestra LIVE & DVS @avahunt0908 / @sinfonia_viva
On winning, Ava said;
"Winning this award is such a boost for the company, and all the artists and young people involved.. The project was originally meant to be a short theatre piece but due to Covid restrictions, we worked on-line exploring how to make theatre digitally. The whole project took two years to complete. The journey that the young people went on was enormous. The artists, young people with care experience and unaccompanied asylum seekers had never worked together before, in the end we all felt part of a family creating a documentary about our process and a 40 minute film with music, songs and animation. Last night for the young people to stand on stage and receive the award with me was a huge acknowledgement of their hard work, learning and creativity. I am over the moon with pride!"
Award: Digital/Creative Ambassador of the Year
Public Vote!
Winner: Lynne Hollingsworth - Artist
On winning, Lynne said;
"I am thrilled to win the public vote for Digital/Creative Ambassador of the Year 2022. I am very proud and fortunate to work within the creative industries in Derby and Derbyshire. I’ve been on such a wonderful creative journey over the past 20 years and I have been honoured and humbled to work with, and alongside, so many other creative people and businesses. I believe in collaboration, not competition. I have loved seeing new talent emerge and helping that talent grow. I am thrilled to have my work recognised by this award and I plan to continue being an ambassador to help others as others helped me when I was first setting out. Thank you to everyone who voted for me".
On the evening of the awards we had music from the very talented Hot House band @hhmusicschool
(All photography by Charlotte Jopling)
You can watch back the live stream here
Find out more about the judges here
For more information about this years awards (and previous years) here
