2009/10 winners

The winners of the 2009/10 Neighbourhood Leadership Awards are:

Category 'changing the lives of younger people':

Shirley Nicolaou-Grana was pronounced winner for all of her voluntary work with young people – from life skills coaching and lectures in schools and youth centres, to football coaching and helping youngsters access the arts.

“I was so shocked when I found out,” Shirley said. “I really didn’t think I’d get shortlisted, as there are millions of people who do wonderful things. I’m so happy and proud and genuinely thrilled to know that kids that I’ve known since they were very young and have been through my youth access projects are now at university, or in great jobs – that’s the most important thing, for me.  My projects are all about accessing youth into the arts and letting them know that if society turns its back on them for any reason, or they’ve started out on the wrong foot, there’s someone to let them know that there’s hope for them to get back up and start moving forward. I do this because of own experience as a child – one kind word would have put me on a different path, and I think young people need to know that someone believes in them and will encourage and support them. I’m very passionate about what I do for young people and my plan for the future is based on getting even more heavily involved in the community – with young people who have been in trouble – and offering emotional and mental support”.

Wayne Louis, 28 years old from Queen’s Park, was commended in this category for his work at the Avenues Youth Club, where he is known as ‘the President’ and is a great role model.

Category 'changing the lives of older people':

David Hogarth’s years of voluntary service as ‘Neighbourcare’ meant he was a worthy winner in the ‘Changing the Lives of Older People’ category.  For years, David has been a lifeline for older people in St John’s Wood, from organising birthday parties and outings to helping those who might otherwise be housebound to get out and about. 

“I was obviously very pleased indeed that I was nominated, “ David said. “But this is really a recognition for lots of people, even if it’s me who has the nomination. There are about 70 volunteers altogether and they all work hard so this is for them as well as for me.”

David thinks that the reason his work is so appreciated by the community is that Neighbourcare provides a number of useful services. “There’s befriending, which is when volunteers have a one-to-one relationship with someone long term, and then we also have a minibus to go on outings in – people probably know me more for that as I’m usually the driver. We also do four birthday parties a year and recently we have created a time bank, which gives some of the older or isolated people we work with the opportunity to do something for us too. Everyone started with 5 hours, so no one has had to ‘pay us back’ yet!” 

Maureen Carter was commended in this category for her long service with the Lillington and Longmore Club, arranging day trips, Christmas parties, bingo clubs and much more.

Category 'helping people live a healthier life':

Alice Bailey was the winner in this category. She works with Westminster Mind, helping isolated people with mental health issues to get out into the community, meet new people and live healthier, happier lives. In her nomination, Alice was praised for the dedication and respect she holds for the people she works with.

“I was shocked to find out that I was shortlisted,” said Alice. “I heard that I had been nominated, but thought nothing would come of it!”  Alice has been a member of the Westminster Mind drop-in centre for a while, and in July last year she was given the opportunity to start working with them running a weekly outings group. “Every Monday we go on trips to all kinds of places – everywhere that you can think of, we go there! We have no budget, so I get donations from family and friends. The group started with about seven people and now there are 12 to 15 people each week.  This year we had our second big group lunch at the Thistle hotel, and we’ve also had bazaars, and lots of lovely outings to the parks in the summer.”

Vera Lawford was commmended for the award. She has worked as a nurse in Westminster for over 30 years.

Category 'making the community safer':

Christine Yau won an award for her work to improve the communities of Chinatown and Soho. Christine is the Chairman of the Chinese Community Centre and works closely with the Chinatown Unit at Charing Cross Police Station to help to improve the safety of the community in Chinatown.

“I’m absolutely delighted,” she said. “I’ve been so lucky to be nominated – I am surrounded by people doing lots of good work, so it’s amazing that it’s me who’s been shortlisted.” When asked about the work she does with the police, Christine said: “I think it’s important to work together – for example on things like the knife screening project – to make sure that community groups don’t feel that they are being targeted, which is what a lot of the controversy is about. One night I stood in Trafalgar Square and counted 100 young people being put through the screening. Although the majority were black, when I spoke to a few of them they said that they were happy to be screened, as it’s to make a safer city.  I think it’s really useful to get these kinds of views from people in the community.”

Mike Wohl was commended in this category. His 'Let's Go Let's Grow' initiative uses previously dead space as an allotment has been an enormous benefit to his community.