Making A Difference Awards 2010 - Winners Announced

Making a Difference in Yorkshire and Humber Awards 2010 - Winners Announced

Local Government Yorkshire and Humber (LGYH) has announced the winners of the Making a Difference in Yorkshire and Humber Awards 2010. The Awards recognise the workers and front line staff from councils, police, fire and national park authorities who have gone that extra mile to make a difference to the lives of local people.

Big winners were Wakefield Council who won three awards, including the coveted overall award for ‘Leadership and Commitment to Local Government in Yorkshire and Humber’. Wakefield Council also saw their Councillor Maureen Cummings win the ‘Elected Member of the Year’ Award and their Community Sports Coach Team win the ‘2012 Award for Culture and Sport’.

This year we were proud to include two new awards which were open to members of the public to nominate. The awards were ‘Young Employee of the Year’ for those aged 25 or below which was won by Kirsty Craig from Scarborough Borough Council; and the ‘Public Sector Worker of the Year’ for front line workers which was won by Jill Craven

Other winners included Calderdale Council who won the ‘Outstanding Response to the Economic Downturn Award’ for their ‘Totally Locally Calderdale’ campaign; North East Lincolnshire Council who won the ‘Contribution to Strong and Harmonious Communities Award’ for their ‘Respect Funhouse’; Leeds City Council who won the ‘International Achievement Award’ for their cohesion work with the Leeds and Brno Gypsy, Roma and traveller community; and City of Bradford MD Council who were celebrated for their Neighbourhood Wardens in the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Improvements in Outcomes for an Area category’.

Richmondshire District Council and Hambleton District Council jointly won the award for Collaborative and Partnership Working for their shared services; and Rotherham MB Council won the Work and Skills Award for their PHD in Personalisation, which highlighted the personalisation of services through the awarding of ‘PHD’ certificates to over 200 staff and customers.

LGYH also presented special awards in recognition of individual leadership and contribution to Yorkshire and Humber. These were Cllr Mick Coulson (Leeds City Council) for his commitment to YoHr Space, Cllr Andrew De Freitas (Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council) for his commitment to the work and skills agenda, Cllr Jane Evison (East Riding of Yorkshire Council) for her role on the Regional Culture Network, Cllr Jonathan Owen (East Riding of Yorkshire Council) for his commitment to health and social care and Peter Simpson (Chief Executive, Hambleton District Council and Richmondshire District Council). Special recognition was also given to Cllr Mark Crane (Leader of Selby District Council) for his commitment to the Employers Committee and Cllr Roger Stone who was celebrated for his role as Chair of LGYH and YoHr Space.

Councillor Roger Stone Chair of Local Government Yorkshire and Humber said; “The Making a Difference Awards recognise the hard work and commitment of individuals and teams across councils, police, fire service and national park authorities and honour those who have made a real difference to the lives of people across Yorkshire and Humber. This year’s event saw a high quality of entries and the independent judges found it difficult to pick just one winner in each category.

During times of economic pressure and budget cuts the good work of local authority officers and Elected Members can be overlooked. Events such as the LGYH Making a Difference Awards allow us to celebrate and promote those front line workers and officers who are consistently working hard to deliver for local communities and local people. This year, all our nominees were winners.”

The Making a Difference Awards 2010 were wholly funded by corporate sponsorship and cost nothing for either LGYH to host, or Local Authorities to attend. This year’s sponsors were RBT, RA Beaver Ltd, Harworth Estates (the property division of UK Coal), Arts Council England, the HayGroup, Welcome to Yorkshire, Yorkshire Gold, the Yorkshire and Humber Empowerment Partnership (YHEP), Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID) and YoHr Space.

The full list of winners are:

LGYH Award for Leadership and Contribution to Yorkshire and Humber
Winner: Wakefield Council

Elected Member of the Year Award
Winner: Cllr Maureen Cummings, Wakefield Council
2nd Place: Cllr Derek Bastiman, Scarborough Borough Council
3rd Place: Cllr Paul Lakin, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Public Sector Worker of the Year Award
Winner: Jill Craven, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
2nd Place: Kevin Mead, Doncaster Council
3rd Place: John Moran, North East Lincolnshire Council

Young Employee of the Year
Winner: Kirsty Craig, Scarborough Borough Council
2nd Place: Claire Smith, Rotherham MB Council
3rd Place: Rachel Greenwood, Wakefield Council

Outstanding Response to the Economic Downturn
Winner: Calderdale Council, ‘Totally Locally Calderdale’
2nd Place: Wakefield Council, ‘Breathing Space’
3rd Place: Barnsley MB Council, ‘Future Jobs Fund’

2012 Award for Culture and Sport
Winners: Wakefield Council, ‘A Sporting Chance’
2nd Place: Kirklees Metropolitan Council, ‘Essentially Dance’
3rd Place: Hull City Council, ‘Aiming High Inclusive Cycling Scheme’

Outstanding Contribution to Skills or Workforce Development
Winners: Rotherham MB Council, ‘A PHD in Personalisation – the Diploma of Choice’
Joint 2nd Place: North East Lincolnshire Council, ‘Training for Excellence’
City of Bradford MD Council, ‘Street Scene supporting skills for work’
3rd Place: Hull City Council, ‘Building Opportunity in Hull’

Outstanding Contribution to Strong and Harmonious Communities
Winner: North East Lincolnshire Council, ‘Respect Funhouse’
2nd Place: West Yorkshire Joint Services, ‘My Place, Al Hikmah’
3rd Place: Sheffield City Council, ‘Connecting Communities in Broomhall’

Outstanding Contribution to Improvement in Outcomes for an Area
Winner: City of Bradford MD Council, ‘Neighbourhood Wardens delivering zero tolerance’
2nd Place: Rotherham MB Council, ‘Engage Rotherham’
3rd Place; Leeds City Council, ‘Wykebeck Valley Day Centre’

Outstanding Contribution to Collaborative and Partnership Working
Winner: Hambleton District Council and Richmondshire District Council, ‘Working Together’
2nd Place: West Yorkshire Trading Standards, ‘Financial Capability Programme’
3rd Place: Calderdale Council, ‘Calderdale Summer University’

Outstanding Achievement in International Working
Winner: Leeds City Council, ‘Cohesion and Understanding: Leeds and Brno Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities’
Joint 2nd Place: ‘Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, Humberside and Germany International Cooperation’
Rotherham MB Council, ‘Entente Cordiale’

Special Recognition Awards
Cllr Mark Crane, Selby District Council
Cllr Roger Stone, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Cllr Mick Coulson, Leeds City Council
Cllr Andrew De Freitas, North East Lincolnshire Council
Cllr Jonathan Owen, East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Cllr Jane Evison, East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Peter Simpson, Hambleton District Council and Richmondshire District Council
 

For more information or photographs from the event please contact Paul Cartwright on 07976 577646 or email paul.cartwright@lgyh.gov.uk