The Scottish Charity Awards 2010 

 Winners announced!

Crossroads (Harris), which provides care and support to ill, disabled and elderly people on the tiny island community of Harris has been named as the Scottish Charity of the Year 2010.

The organisation, which has an annual budget of just £42,000, provides an essential lifeline for vulnerable people who are isolated from both mainland Scotland and often their own neighbours.

Its commitment to high-level service user involvement and dialogue was highlighted by the judges of the Scottish Charity Awards.

Dr Alison Elliot, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisation’s convener and Scottish Charity Award judging panel chair, said: “Crossroad (Harris) Care Attendant Scheme has demonstrated both excellent value for money in meeting the care needs of sick and disabled people on this small island community, but is also at the forefront of service-user involvement. The panel was hugely impressed by the way this service engages with the people who use it and provides them with exactly what they need.”

Representatives from Crossroads (Harris) picked up their award at a top-class ceremony in Edinburgh’s prestigious Mansfield Traquair Centre on Thursday evening.

Catherine Morrison, chair of Crossroads (Harris) said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the honour of being named Charity of the Year 2010.  We accept this award on behalf of all the people involved in Crossroads (Harris), the clients, the carers, the staff, the committee and the community.

“We live in a small island with a population of just over 1900, a high proportion of which is elderly, but we have a hugely supportive community.  The aim of our scheme is to make the life of those unsung heroes, the family carers, easier. “

Awards were also given in four more categories.

Jimmy McIntosh, who was born with cerebral palsy and has spent most of his 70 years campaigning to ensure that the views of disabled people are heard and their rights upheld, was this year’s Charity Champion.

McIntosh is at the forefront of self-advocacy and as chair of Partners in Advocacy campaigns on issues such as Direct Payments, service procurement and accessible transport.

Speaking after the awards, he said: “It is very nice to receive this award. I want to thank Partners in Advocacy who put me forward because I enjoy working for them. It’s a great organisation.

“It’s a great honour to be chairperson of its board. I’ve been a campaigner all my life. I make changes for the better for other people to help them have a better life. I like what I’m doing.”

An innovative approach to providing a fun place to socialize for people who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction won this year’s Community Action Award.
Community development agency Comas became aware that there was little opportunities for people recovering from drug and alcohol misuse in Scotland to enjoy relaxing, social occasions. The Serenity Café ran three trial nights in June and July 2009 to gauge the interest from local people. Volunteers then turned a city centre church hall into a club venue with café and soft bar. 130 people turned up for the first night, many dressed to the theme, to dance, chat and enjoy the mocktails. Since then the club has become a monthly event, including a Hogmanay special, pulling in crowds of around 120 each time.

Ruth Campbell, the chief officer of Comas said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been recognised by the Scottish Charity Awards. Comas is a small organisation working hard with very limited resources to try something new and to challenge people to think differently about what being in recovery from addiction means day to day for people overcoming many years of dependency and despair.

“The award to the Serenity Cafe Project can help to put the spotlight on this growing community of people recovering from addiction and highlight the support that people need to stay free from drugs and alcohol. And it is a great way of saying thank you to the volunteers in recovery who make the Serenity Cafe such an exciting place to be."

Action Scotland Against Stalking won the Campaign of the Year Award for its successful work to introduce a definition of stalking into Scots law.

Ayr resident Ann Moulds lost her home and her business after becoming the victim of a stalker. Her stalker however received a lenient court sentence and was free to walk the streets. In March 2009, Ann launched this campaign to introduce stalking legislation into the Scottish Criminal Justice System. Following a year of lobbying and telling Ann’s story through the media, proposed anti-stalking legislation has been included in the new Criminal & Licensing Justice Bill. Importantly, training modules are being developed to be delivered throughout Scotland’s police forces and the Crowing Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has developed a training DVD to be delivered to all staff.

The Anthony Nolan Trust also won the Partnership Award alongside Strathclyde Fire and Rescue for their joint work to increase the number of bone marrow donors in Scotland.

The Anthony Nolan Trust manages the UK’s largest bone marrow register, which provides life-saving bone marrow donors for people with leukaemia and related diseases. It approached Strathclyde Fire and Rescue in a bid to increase donors to the scheme, particularly amongst young men aged between 18 and 29. The partnership has been a huge success with the fire service agreeing to host at least 10 donor recruitment sessions in fire stations over the next three years. 70 fire service volunteers have been trained up to be counsellors at the sign-up clinics and the service now encourages staff and new recruits to register. Since July 2009 there has been an almost 20 per cent increase in recruitment to the bone marrow register in Scotland.

The Scottish Charity Awards was set up to highlight innovative work being carried out across the whole voluntary sector.

Dr Elliot said: “The last year has been a difficult one in which we have seen funding cuts up and down the country coupled with an increased demand for services, meaning we’re all doing more with less. But despite this, the voluntary sector enjoyed some incredible achievements.

“The judges for this year’s awards were not only delighted to receive a record number of entries, but also an incredibly high standard of entries from the length and breadth of Scotland.”
 

Jim Mather, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism who presented the award for Campaign of the Year, said:  "The Scottish Government recognises the vital contribution the third sector plays in supporting Scotland’s economy, and we are firmly committed to doing all we can to enable the sector to develop and evolve to deliver its full potential.   

“These awards demonstrate the sector’s unique and innovative nature and how organisations are making a real difference to the lives of people in Scotland. I have been hugely impressed by the high standard of nominations this year and congratulate all the award winners on their well-earned success.”

    The Scottish Wildlife Trust was commended for its campaign to reintroduce the beaver to Scotland.  The first ever reintroduction of a mammal into the UK through SWT’s Scottish Beaver Trial was a milestone in nature conservation in 2009. The body also worked to save Scotland’s red squirrels, protect vulnerable wildlife from invasion of American Mink in North West Highlands and save less well-known endangered species such as the small cow wheat and narrow-headed ant (CHECK), hazel gloves fungus and Scottish primrose. Despite the recession, SWT increased its income by 10 per cent and increased membership by 9 per cent.

Grandparents Parenting Again & Kinship Carers .  This group was set up in 2005, but the Health Project that supported it was closed in March 2009 due to funding. The Kinship group decided to go it alone. They have found premises through a local church, have fundraised and arranged regular outings and trips. In the last year the kinship carers have lobbied politicians over the difficulties they face – particularly grandparents struggling to deal with the physical demands of children, financial issues and cope with an education system that has changed dramatically since they were last involved with it. They are now creating a book of their experiences and are working to employ a link worker to help develop the network.

Robert Clark
In 1959, as a young lad of 16, Robert Clark created the Junior Concert Party in Musselburgh and dozens of children in the area joined. Robert Clark continued to work with the group from the following 50 years. The school teacher wrote plays and pantomimes over the years, choreographed dances and produced and directed shows twice years in St Ninians Church hall and latterly Wallyford Primary School. He took hoards of children round local hospitals at Christmas to sing carols to patients, to pensioners clubs, residential homes and sheltered housing comlexes, either. On the 50^th anniversary of the Junior Concert Party, Robert was awarded Mussleburgh’s Citizen of the Year award. Unfortunately in October 2009, just two weeks before a Grand Reunion with 200 people, Robert suddenly died. His friends however has now formed the Clark Community Choir in his honour, with a group of 50 people aged between 2 and 82.The judges felt his contribution merited a posthumous award.

The Awards recognise innovation and excellence in five categories, this year's shortlisted include:

Community Action:  Interest Link Borders, The Serenity Café Project, The Lighthouse Foundation and Grandparents Parenting Again & Kinship Carers

Campaign of the Year:  Action Scotland Against Stalking, British Red Cross Black and Minority Ethnic Capacity Building Project, Young Gypsy Travellers Lives and British Heart Foundations Out of Order campaign.

The Partnership Award:  Barnardo’s Scotland and Scottish and Southern Energy, National Autistic Society Scotland and Harper Macleod LLP, The Anthony Nolan Trust and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Children’s Hospice Association Scotland and Real Radio.

Charity Champion:  Robert Clark, Jimmy MacIntosh, Edie Gledhill and Rev Bill Brown.

Charity of the Year:  Hearts and Minds, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Crossroads (Harris) Care Attendant Scheme, Epilepsy Connections and Go Country.