Creating Better Futures winners unveiled

02/07/2010

Seven of Yorkshire and Humber’s voluntary, community and faith (VCF) sector organisations have seen their work with public and private sector partners rewarded at the third annual Yorkshire Forward Creating Better Futures awards.

The awards, which were handed out at the Leeds City Museum yesterday (Thursday, July 1), recognise partnerships that benefit communities throughout the region.

The seven winners were: St Gemma’s Hospice with Yorkshire Bank; Craven Volunteer Centre with North Yorkshire County Council’s Libraries and Information Services team; The Manuel Bravo Project with Henry Hyams, DLA Piper, Eversheds, Beachcrofts and Harrison Bundey; Settle Hydro with L’Anson Bros; British Red Cross with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service; The CREATE Foundation with St Johns Centre; and Reading Matters with Horner Bros Print Group.

Each winning partner took home a Creating Better Futures Award, and in each instance the VCF partner won a prize of £10,000 to invest in the continued running of their project. 

St Gemma’s Hospice and Yorkshire Bank combine forces as part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) that helps raise money and provide volunteers at St Gemma’s, a specialist palliative care and services hospice for terminally ill patients.

Elizabeth Baxter, Fundraising Manager at St. Gemma's Hospice, said: “This award is a testament to the amazing relationship that Yorkshire Bank and St. Gemma's have forged over the last two years and the many ways in which the Bank supports us. The money raised, and thousands of hours donated in tireless volunteer work by Yorkshire Bank staff, is vital to the Hospice and we can’t thank them enough. 

“The prize money will go towards our recently launched appeal for the refurbishment of our In-Patient Unit, which aims to improve the safety, privacy and dignity of our patients whilst creating an improved environment for both patients and their visitors.”

Craven Volunteer Centre provides and trains volunteers to take North Yorkshire County Council’s library books to remote parts of North Yorkshire.

Dee Pollitt, Manager at Craven Volunteer Centre, said: "Everyone at Craven Volunteer Centre is delighted to win this award for our work in conjunction with the Library and Information Services team at North Yorkshire County Council, especially at a time when financial constraints are having a profound effect on funding for the voluntary sector. 

“We are currently in the course of refurbishing the Volunteer Centre to make it more comfortable for the potential volunteers who visit us, so the money will go partly towards this and will also enable us to expand our work with young people, who are our volunteers of the future."

The Manuel Bravo Project works with law firms Henry Hyams, DLA Piper, Eversheds, Beachcrofts and Harrison Bundey to ensure asylum seekers who have been denied legal support are properly represented in their bids to remain in the UK.

Richard Dimery, Management Committee member at the Manuel Bravo Project, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this award on behalf of everyone involved in making The Manuel Bravo Project’s aims a reality.

 “We are pleased to say that with this generous award we can keep our two paid part-time staff in post for an additional six months each.  We are also hoping to employ a new project manager in the near future to pursue a wider development strategy in order to expand our services and roll out similar templates of legal provision across the country.”

Settle Hydro is the driving force behind Yorkshire and Humber’s first community hydro-energy project. L’Anson Bros helped write the Settle Hydro business plan, dealt with bankers and funding partners, and was involved right the way through to completion of the project. They continue to provide ongoing support.

Ann Harding, founder member of Settle Hydro, said: “' Winning this award is a fabulous affirmation of the wonderful things that can be achieved when companies and communities work in partnership to use the strengths of both. Together with the invaluable input of I'Anson's we have a achieved a sustainable project for our community that is greater than the sum of what we could ever have achieved  alone, and we are so very grateful to the sponsors for recognising that special relationship.
“We will use the money to go towards improving the learning outputs of the hydro scheme, so that other communities can benefit from our leading Yorkshire example, and to help underpin our business model, so that, again, we can pass this learning from Settle Hydro and engineering imput from I'Anson's to other people.”

The British Red Cross Society and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service are both VCF organisations and have been working together for 12 years to provide support for people who have been affected by fire, flooding or similar emergencies.

Ian Temple, Operations Director for the British Red Cross in Yorkshire, said: “We are extremely proud, and grateful, to receive this Creating Better Futures award.
 
“What started out as a ‘good idea’ became a pilot operational framework, and it is our intention that the generous contribution from Yorkshire Forward will be used to finance the replication of the project elsewhere in Yorkshire.
 
“We are confident that this boost in funding will have a direct and positive impact on our capacity to support vulnerable members of our community.”

The CREATE Foundation launched the FOUND charity shop after being approached by Laurie Barton Bright, Manager of the St John’s Centre, about filling a retail unit left empty during the recession.

Sarah Dunwell, Chief Executive Officer at the CREATE Foundation, said: “CREATE is delighted to have won this award. We believe that social enterprise is able to pioneer solutions for some of the most difficult and entrenched problems in society. We are proud of our work in Yorkshire and our partnership with the St John’s Centre and being recognised in the region as part of a movement that is all about creating better futures for all.”

Reading Matters, which provides one-on-one reading tuition in schools, have continued to provide support such as undertaking CRB checks on volunteers, training volunteers and organising review visits. Horner Brothers Print Group wanted to build a relationship with a local high school and approached Reading Matters to broker that relationship.  In return Reading Matters get all their printing done for free and have access to a wider pool of business supporters and volunteers.

Catherine McGrath, Chief Executive of Reading Matters, said: "At Reading Matters, we want society in general to have a better understanding of why some young people struggle with reading and the wider negative impact that this can have on their lives, their families lives and on society as a whole.

“We will now be able to continue and develop our incredibly positive and effective work with Horner Brothers Print Group and Brinsworth Comprehensive School - a really exciting and innovative partnership. This award will help to raise the profile of our work still further and will enable us to continue to invest in forging relationships with other forward-thinking organisations and schools across The Yorkshire and Humber Region."

The awards were presented by Michelle Mone OBE, a highly successful entrepreneur, co-owner of MJM International and founder of Ultimo, the UK’s leading designer lingerie brand. Michelle also supports a large portfolio of charities and has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds over the years for Cash for Kids, CHAS, the Beatson, and Breast Cancer Care.

Michelle, who donated her fee for the event to Breast Cancer Care, said: “The Creating Better Futures awards are a fantastic way of rewarding the successful partnerships between the voluntary, community and faith sector and public and private industry.

“The winners have all demonstrated inspirational partnership working, and their awards recognise the dedication and passion of those involved in each project.”