Lambeth Mayor, Cllr Donatus Anyanwu, hosted the award ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall and praised the seven winners.
He said: “I was incredibly inspired at the Community Awards – these people that we recognised are champions of the borough. Their selflessness and commitment are commended and we can all learn from them.
“Lambeth would not be the wonderful place it is, without people like this and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. These people have made our lives beautiful and meaningful.”
Winners by category
Bringing your neighbourhood together award
• Rob Goacher
Rob is a resident of central Brixton, he provides support for vulnerable people, liaising on their behalf with the council, doctors and landlords. He helps with the shopping, and introduces them to each other so there is a mutual support network. Rob campaigns to keep the area clean, green and tidy.
Lord Scarman award
• Andrea Swainson
Andrea provides dance classes for people with learning disabilities. The weekly dance classes are a chance for the attendees to improve their physical health and to build self-confidence. The group performs in a theatre once a year – which takes a good deal of organising, and they also perform at the Lambeth Country Show.
Cleaner and greener community award
• Wayne Trevor
Wayne volunteered at the West Norwood Feasts, ran a Trade School growing edible flowers, and has helped local residents with their gardens. For the past year Wayne has dedicated a vast amount of time on a new project called the West Norwood Bzz Garage. He approached the garage and got their permission to transform the space with attractive bee-friendly plants.
Making Lambeth safer community award
• Kathleen Staniford
Ten years ago Kathleen Staniford joined the Lambeth South Volunteer Police Cadets as a cadet leader, and has done a truly inspirational job. Her connections with the Latin community have helped with recruitment and the cadet force has grown from 30 cadets when she joined to having 122 cadets in three units today.
Keeping Lambeth healthy community award
• Richard Keagon-Bull
Richard’s work has helped ensure those with learning disabilities are listened to and supported to live full and independent lives. He has a learning disability and is co-chair of the Lambeth Learning Disability Assembly and Chair of the Lambeth Forum. He represents Lambeth in two national charities – L’Arche’s National Speaking Group and Walsingham Support.
Young person’s community award
• Matthew Bridge
Matthew works as a volunteer for Whippersnappers during the week, bringing children from local schools to their inclusive afterschool facility at Brockwell Lido. He has completed courses at Lambeth College and is a Prince’s Trust Award holder. On his weekends
he helps at Rattray Road Play Street which is a local organisation providing safe play for local children, bringing communities together.
Voluntary or community organisation of the year award
• Loughborough Junction Action Group
The LJAG aims to improve the environment of Loughborough Junction and the lives of people who live and work there, through various engagement strategies, projects and events. The group runs the Loughborough Farm and a community gardening project. LJAG also support the Loughborough Junction Business Association which hosted a successful Christmas market day.
Quotes from our winners
Wayne Trevor
“I’d like to thank everyone involved with Bzz garage, who turned out in the sun and the rain to cultivate a windy corner of West Norwood which is the bus garage. I’d also like to thank Lambeth Council for their visionary work as a co-operative council and in particular their support for the Open Works programme in West Norwood, without which this project and several others wouldn’t be supporting thriving communities. I’d like to use the words from the US scientist Margaret Mead ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has’.”
Kathleen Staniford
“Thank you very much, this award would not happen without my young cadets and my young pupils. I’m being awarded for doing what I love – working with young people.”
LJAG – Anthea Masey
“Loughborough Junction is a forgotten corner of Lambeth but we are having a lot of fun with community engagement in Loughborough Junction. We have just such fantastic people in Loughborough Junction, all coming together to make something wonderful. We have our biggest project, Loughborough Farm, which is acting like an outdoor community centre, its bringing people to grow healthy food for the neighbourhood, it’s bringing people together in a wellbeing project, it’s engaging lots of people in something that is very positive for the neighbourhood.”
Richard Keagan-Bull
“I would like to say thank you to everyone in Lambeth. Having a learning difficulty and trying to be understood in the world is not easy. It means a lot to be the Co-chair of Lambeth Learning Disability Assembly and part of L’Arche, which was set up by a man called Jean Vanier and his dream was that people with learning difficulties can do what I am doing now which is living in my flat and being able to live a normal and able life.”
About the awards
The Twitter story of the awards.
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