The Who Will Care? Awards Return for 2017

Who will Care? AwardsThe Who Will Care? Awards Return for 2017

Nominations are now open for the prestigious Who Will Care? Awards taking place on 24 May 2017. Seven award categories celebrate the unsung heroes volunteering across Essex.  They bring together communities and individuals who are working to make Essex an even greater place to live, work and visit. 

Nominate any business, charity or individual you feel deserves recognition for their volunteering efforts in our county, by filling in an online form.

Nominations close Friday 3 March 2017 at midnight. Read about last year’s winners here. Continue reading “The Who Will Care? Awards Return for 2017”

Best Village of the Year

Village-of-the-Year-Presentation-2016
Chris Stevenson (centre) receiving the award last night.

Best Village of the Year

Every Year the Rural Community Council of Essex holds a competition to determine the best Village of the Year.  The award is based on the activities and work of the community as a whole, not just the Parish Council:

This is the only competition of its kind in Essex that focuses on the whole community rather than on the work of the Parish Council or one particular organisation or amenity.  We will be looking to reward villages of all sizes that are doing most to enhance the quality of life for their inhabitants.

RCCE Website

Continue reading “Best Village of the Year”

Clubs – Volunteer Awards & Culture Grants

Clubs – Volunteer Awards & Culture Grants

Essex County Council recently issued news updates on two items that might be of interest to local clubs – time is running out though:

Stars-of-EssexWho are your star volunteers?

Tell us about a volunteer, business or charitable organisation that has made an impact on your community and improved the lives of others. This is your opportunity to show just how much you appreciate them.

The ‘Who Will Care?’ Awards is a county-wide volunteer awards for Essex. There are seven categories to choose from and nominations close on Friday 9 April.

  • Individual – adult (18+). Volunteer aged 18+ who has demonstrated outstanding commitment within their community. This may be something they have done independently or in connection with a charity/community group or employer.
  • Individual – young person (under 18) (Sponsored by Seetec). Volunteer aged under 18 who has demonstrated outstanding commitment within their community. This may be something they have done independently or in connection with a charity or community/youth/school group or employer.
  • Individual – overcoming adversity (Sponsored by Runwood Homes). A volunteer of any age who has continued to volunteer within their community (independently or with a charity or community group) while facing challenges in their own personal life.
  • Team Volunteer Award. A group of two or more volunteers of any age who have made an outstanding contribution to their community either independently or with a charity, community group or their employer.
  • Voluntary and Community Sector Award. Open to Charities and Community Groups who are able to demonstrate outstanding service delivery to support their community and/or service users.
  • Business Award (Sponsored by Edward Carter Solutions). Open to commercial organisations who have made an impact in their community
  • Innovation Award. Open to Social Enterprises, commercial organisations and individuals of any age who can demonstrate innovation in developing a service/project to support the community. 

Find out more and download application forms from the Castle Point AVS website.

Culture in Essex Small Grants

The Culture in Essex Small Grants Schemes are funded and run by Essex County Council, offering one-off project support to arts and culture projects within Essex.  Grants of between £250 – £2,500 are available for projects and up to £250 for personal development.

The deadline for 2016/17 is the 31st March 2016. Awards of up to £2,500 are offered to projects which meet the schemes criteria. Please ensure that you read the guidance notes before completing an application form. For more information please email [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

 

Landscape Award for Oak View

Oak View's award winning garden in Great Sampford
The Award Winning Garden

Landscape Award for Oak View

Local landscapers, Oak View, have recently learnt that they have received this year’s BALI (British Association of Landscape Industries) Award in the category for collaboration between designer and builder.  Jason Lock, the designer, said:

We are absolutely delighted to win this award. We worked very closely with our client and contractor to achieve a truly stunning garden and it’s great to receive industry-recognition for all the hard work.

Giffords Farm is a Grade 2 listed farmhouse in Tindon End, Great Sampford, dating back to 1626. The property has a wealth of original architectural features and the owners wanted a new design for the front garden in a style that reflected the historic period of the house.

The new garden has new herbaceous borders to give year-round colour and interest and the existing pond was redeveloped to make it a more prominent feature. It has lawns and a paved terrace for summer entertaining.

Work started in May 2013 and involved extensive site clearance, pond excavation and construction. The owners said they were delighted with the completed garden and decided to put it forward for an award to celebrate what had been achieved by the two companies.

This will be the 4th BALI award Oak View have won since becoming full members in 2006.

To find out more about Oak View visit their website, to find out about other local businesses visit our Local Business page.

Acknowledgements to the Saffron Walden Reporter where this news was published earlier this week.

Quality Standard for Parish Council

Foundation-Quality-StandardQuality Standard for Parish Council

The Essex & National Association of Local Councils (EALC & NALC) have recently accredited West Bergholt Parish Council as one of the first to be awarded their Foundation Quality Standard under a pilot scheme which is being launched formally on 6th January 2015.  The new Local Council Award Scheme has been designed to celebrate the successes of the very best local councils, and to provide a framework to support all local councils to improve and develop to meet their full potential.  The scheme offers councils the opportunity to show that they meet the standards set by the sector, assessed by their peers, and to put in place the conditions for continued improvement.

The Award Scheme has been designed to provide the tools and encouragement to those councils at the beginning of their improvement journeys, as well as promoting and recognising councils that are at the cutting edge of the sector.  It is only through the sector working together, to share best practice, drive up standards and supporting those who are committed to improving their offer to their communities that individual councils and the sector as a whole will reach its full potential.

Commenting on the West Bergholt application the judging panel said:

Panel Members agreed that this was a good application and the Council had provided excellent information on its web site.  The web site was well organised and easy to navigate.
The Bulletin was excellent giving up to date information.
The Panel unanimously agreed that Foundation Level of the Standards of Practice Scheme were met.
The Quality Standard will also have 2 further levels of accreditation, including a ‘Gold’ level, when launched but this was not a part of the pilot scheme that West Bergholt participated in; the Chair of the Parish Council, John Gili-Ross, in response to the award notification, said:
Achieving the foundation level is very satisfying from a Councillors perspective but our community deserves a “Gold Quality” Council and it is our objective to give them one in 2015.
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