Community Engagement Award
Recognises the work of charities who have made a positive impact to both their immediate target group and the wider community, working in partnership to enact long-lasting change.
Cheshire Wildlife has been shortlisted for the ‘Network of Champions’ project. In bringing together the skills and experience within their local communities, they have built a network of Champions each uniquely placed to make a collective change for nature. Cheshire Wildlife have taken a facilitation role, helping groups remove their own barriers when it comes to common issues such as finding funding and recruiting more volunteers.
The charity has been shortlisted for their 'Bengali Photography Archive' project which responded to the need to create a public home for material which conveys the lives of the local Bangladeshi community through images and in their own words, building a living testament to the community's history and enduring spirit.
Through the Energy Advice service, Lancashire Women have been able to significantly improve engagement with the local Lancashire community, visiting women in their homes and carrying out repairs or fitting small measures at no cost, to increase energy efficiency. They are also able to provide tips so the residents can do it themselves further empowering the community.
CaféLife is the heart of the local community and provides a safe place where lots of people from the local community can meet, eat, chat, and feel as though they belong. On any given day CaféLife is a hub of activity and visited by all generations benefitting from a friendly, fully accessible, welcoming space.
The charity has been shortlisted for the Embark Community Activities Project which delivers an extensive programme of free community activities, supported by an amazing team of trained staff and volunteers. Volunteering Hebrides delivers the largest social action projects across the Outer Hebrides, providing unique and essential interventions and opportunities for five hundred people per year of all ages to learn new skills, grow in confidence and independence and have improved health and wellbeing and thrive despite the challenges of remote island living.
Education Award
Recognises the exceptional efforts of charities who are working to encourage learning and education in all its forms. The winning project will clearly demonstrate how they are raising aspirations, promoting inclusion, and broadening horizons.
Archaeology Scotland has been shortlisted for its Attainment through Archaeology (AtA) programme, which offers unique, place-based, learning opportunities for those children and young people across Scotland who have been most impacted by lockdowns and the poverty-related attainment gap. Participation in AtA taster workshops and 5-workshop courses, encourages children and young people to broaden their horizons and raise their aspirations for further learning, training, or work.
Footprints supports children of all abilities, living with mobility and communication difficulties, to thrive and to achieve their full potential. Shortlisted for the ‘In our Communication and Connection project,’ they support children to develop communication skills to connect with the world around them. They are using innovative best practice, training, and education to increase children's ability to understand others and to make themselves understood.
The charity is shortlisted for the Weapon of Choice Theatre project: Beachcroft Alternative Provision Academy. The project has a profoundly positive impact on vulnerable young people who have been excluded from mainstream education and it is led and run by past participants of the programme.
Gawthorpe Textiles Collection is a renowned collection of global textiles located in Lancashire. The charity has been shortlisted for its wide range of educational initiatives that have provided a unique range of learning opportunities. They provide beneficiaries the opportunity to get 'up close and personal' with the historical archive whilst accessing expert tuition from outstanding university lecturers.
Winter Comfort for the Homeless is being recognised for the Restart Programme which supports homeless adults in gaining the vocational qualifications and work experience needed for paid employment. They achieve this through various activities such as Basic Skills Workshops, Accredited and Non-Accredited Learning, Volunteer Work Placements, Work Ready 1:1 Sessions, Maintaining Employment Training. These services have provided practical skills and emotional support, helping individuals gain confidence, training, and qualifications to move from the streets to employment.
Innovation Award
Celebrates projects that address a community need in a unique and innovative way. The winner will show resilience and ingenuity to overcome a problem, welcome new ideas and think out-of-the-box to find inventive solutions.
Brass Bands England has been nominated for the Elevate project which is a collaborative initiative bringing together brass bands and artists to create and learn together across a nine-month partnership. The programme pairs brass bands looking to challenge their normal performance practice with artists who will help push their boundaries by exploring new ideas, genres, and ways of performing in a collaborative partnership.
Re_Store is a brand-new local charity shop and learning hub in central Oban. Addressing local needs, specifically around giving people access to affordable food without the stigma of a food bank, the charity has established an upcycling, repair, and short date (rescued) food shop, provided affordable food, clothing and homeware, whilst also reducing waste and raising awareness of sustainability.
Lancashire Women has been shortlisted for their unique and innovative energy efficiency and handywoman service project that improves outcomes of women in Lancashire and encourages more women and girls to consider a non-traditional trades role as a career choice.
The Reconnect Service is deserving of recognition for its innovative and impactful efforts both locally and nationally. The service empowers communities by providing access to digital tools, bridging the digital divide, and fostering a sense of community.
Charity Champion Award
Awarded to an outstanding individual who has gone the extra mile to help a charity achieve its goals. The ScottishPower Foundation Charity Champion exemplifies what the organisation stands for and strives to inspire, support, and motivate.
Mike Kilroy has been nominated by Brass Bands for his contribution to the success of Brass Bands England in the past decade. Mike Kilroy, a brass band euphonium player of great distinction, has led a career in business and local enterprise, and has put his skills and experience to use as Chair of Brass Bands. In this role, he has overseen significant growth in the organisation's scope in terms of both the size of the membership base and the services available, including a groundbreaking safeguarding product, BandSafe, which has now been embraced by many community music organisations from outside the brass band genre.
Over 7,000 young people have been introduced to the joys and benefits of brass playing in the past three years, and the organisation is widely regarded as the leading body of its type worldwide with a gamut of services. None of this would have happened as it did without the guiding light provided by Mike Kilroy, inspiring over a decade of remarkable growth and leadership of a culture previously in possible terminal decline in the UK.
Cheshire Wildlife Trust have nominated Andy Stubbs who has worked with more than 30 different projects in Crewe in just two years, bringing together local residents, businesses, and the public sector to help people to take their own actions for nature. Andy's passion for wildlife and for his hometown drive him forward to make things happen and bring about significant changes for people and wildlife alike.
Most notable is Andy’s support of a community group to apply for their own funding for a swift box project. The swift colony in Crewe has declined from 450 pairs in 1991 to just 50 pairs in 2023, mainly due to loss of nesting sites. Andy has worked with the community to create a sense of ownership and responsibility to these swifts amongst local residents. This year, 100 swift boxes will be put up, with more planned going forward, and the Town Council is starting to include swift boxes in new developments. Andy has made a long-lasting difference to swifts in Crewe and has brought residents together around the issue.
Adele Helm, Business Development Manager has been nominated for her relentless work in the organisation. Adele found Lancashire Women back in 2016 when she walked through the door of the charity as a service user. After a short course, Adele started volunteering to support other women and was then successfully recruited in post as a Community Fundraiser. She has worked through the organisation and now on the management team ensuring that the wider team, which she has grown, are empowered to work with her and continue to build on the success she started. As Adele had experienced first-hand the support Lancashire Women can give, she is a perfect ambassador to the brand. Prior to Adele being in post the charity didn't do any fundraising activity and had a very basic marketing and development strategy. They now have a full Business development team who look after all fundraising activity, marketing staff and volunteers, working under Adele's direction to consistently generate income and build the reputation, sell the service and incredible work that the whole team at Lancashire Women do. Her commitment, empathy, and boundless work ethic shine through and her personal qualities make her ability to connect with individuals and she has earned the respect and admiration of colleagues, partners, and beneficiaries alike.
LifeCare Edinburgh has nominated Ian McRae who is a much-loved volunteer within the charity. Ian epitomises the support provided at LifeCare where for over six years, he has given his time, his patience, and his warmth to help deliver incredible support to clients who are living with dementia within one of our registered day clubs.
Ian has gone over and above, with his commitment, understanding, empathy and support: and has helped the charity to continue to deliver vital support to hundreds of clients. Ian shared his experiences and learnings with others who might be struggling as a carer or as a loved one from afar, even creating a wonderful handbook offering advice support and tips from his own experiences. Thanks to Ian’s unique understanding, warmth, humour, and patience, he has, and continues to develop wonderful relationships with clients, staff, and other volunteers alike.