The Guardian Public Services Awards 2007
Winners announced
The Guardian Public Services Awards highlights the huge range of public services and to acclaim the inspirational work, all too often unsung, that is involved in delivering them day in day out. This is the fourth year of the awards, run in partnership with Hays Public Services which are now well established as a benchmark of excellence.
The winners of the Good Citizenship category, sponsored for the first year this time by Volunteering England in 2007, were chosen last night at the official Awards ceremony in Old Billingsgate. This category recognises schemes that promote good citizenship by employees through voluntary activities. Unlike all catgories in The Guardian Public Services Awards, the nominations for this category were open to employers operating both in the private sector as well as those engaged in public services.
The shortlisted entries were:
- UBS for its community programme that works with schools in Tower Hamlets.
- University of Sheffield Union of Students for a volunteer programme that works with schools and other organisations.
- Herbert Smith LLP for its volunteering programme that offers legal assistance to communities in inner-city areas of London.
The winners were announced on Tuesday 27 November and presented with the Award by the Chair of Volunteering England, Mike Nussbaum. The University of Sheffield Union of Students stood out from the other nominees, not least because the programme has seen the number of student volunteers rise by about 10% each year since 2002. As well as local charities and schools, volunteers also help individual families requiring support. of the 200 or so projects open to the volunteers, one of the most demanding is a support group for bereaved children. The volunteers activities were also highlighted because of the vast contribution that has been made to their temporary community.
The Justice Awards 2007
The Justice Awards were founded in 2004 by the Rt. Hon Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, Attorney General. The Awards are designed to celebrate some of the most remarkable achievements by individuals and teams within the Criminal Justice System.
The winners for 2007 have been selected. Avril Ainsbury's voluntary activities over the past 30 years have been recognised. Avril spent 22 years helping local people through Croxteth Gems Community Assosciation before leaving to work as a custody suite visitor, offender mentor and victim support witness service volunteer for North Liverpool Community Justice Centre.
To read more about Avril and Jackie Goulding, who was recognised as Highly Commended in this category, go to The Justice Awards official website.
The Queen's Award for Voluntary
Service 2008
The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service is given for outstanding achievement by groups (2 or more people) of volunteers who:
- meet a particular need;
- provides community-focused voluntary activities of a very high quality;
- has generated a high level of goodwill and respect amongst those it serves and the community as a whole;
- has evolved locally and is locally run; and
- has a proven track record of active involvement in the community, normally over a period of three years or more, for the social, economic or environmental wellbeing of local individuals or groups.
The nomination period for The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service 2008 has now closed. The next round of nominations will open on 2 June 2008, when you will be able to nominate an exceptional group of volunteers for The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.
For further information visit:
http://www.queensawardvoluntary.gov.uk/
