Staff and families involved in life changing schemes delivered by Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) came together yesterday at the first ever No Child Left Behind awards yesterday (30 Jan).
The event was hosted by BBC Radio Gloucestershire presenter Nicky Price and singer and entertainer Camilla Lewington, and took place at Cheltenham Town Hall. Over 200 guests, including children, took part to celebrate the hard work and achievements of Cheltenham throughout the ‘Year of Action’.
Cheltenham Borough Council launched the campaign in 2019 after a needs analysis showed that there is in the region of 4,300 children and young people growing up in poverty in Cheltenham and that those children, when compared to their more affluent peers are then facing significant challenges such as poorer education attainment, higher rates of exclusion, at higher risk being victims of crime, higher risk of being obese, higher risk of being open to social care, higher risk of self-harm.
Since the campaign kicked off, organisations from across the town have been working on projects to help young people living in the town a chance to thrive. CBH was amongst them, with programmes aimed at providing support for families, giving young people support in pursuing careers after school, providing mentoring to young girls and a campaign to give those most in need a new coat for the winter.
The judging panel awarded CBH first place in the #OurChelt category (for #KeepCheltWarm), #ConfidentGirls (Youth Mentoring) and #StrongFamilies for our ACE's pilot in St. Paul's.
Cllr Flo Clucas, cabinet member for healthy lifestyles at Cheltenham Borough Council, said: “I was overwhelmed by the variety of projects and the good work being done in Cheltenham. There is still more that needs to be done and we look forward to the buzz of the evening inspiring many more organisations to get involved with No Child Left Behind.
"My special thanks to our judges, our fabulous hosts of the evening Camilla and Nicky who did a wonderful job entertaining the crowd and also to all our sponsors, particularly The Cheltenham Trust who let us shine a light on Cheltenham projects that have made a difference in the impressive town hall.”
Cheltenham Borough Homes' chief executive attended the awards and presented the award for #GoodMentalHealth to Cheltenham Town Community Trust for their MenTalk/GirlTalk campaign.
He said: "It was a real honour to be able to attend this fantastic celebration of all the work that has gone into providing children and young people in Cheltenham with an opportunity for a better life.
"I am always humbled by the stories of the people these schemes help, and it gives me a real sense of pride that CBH has been able to help them. I'd like to thank my colleagues for all their hard work in delivering these services and showing that we are so much more than a housing provider. Congratulations also to all the other nominees and winners for their recognition, and to Cheltenham Borough Council's No Child Left Behind team for a fantastic year of action - capped with a fabulous event."
The full list of winners is below:
#OurTown - #KeepCheltWarm - Cheltenham Borough Homes
#PositiveRelationships - The Aston Project - Gloucestershire Constabulary
#ConfidentGirls - Youth Mentors - Cheltenham Borough Homes
#StrongFamilies – St Pauls ACEs Pilot - Cheltenham Borough Homes
#CelebratingChildhood - My Park - Play Gloucestershire
#AmbitiousCareers – The Cornerstone Centre - St Michael's Cornerstone trust
#PhysicallyActive – Health & Wellbeing Project - Move More
#FunandFulfilment - The Halt Project - Gloucestershire Animal Welfare Association and Cheltenham Animal Shelter
#InnovativeEducation – Free family events - Gloucestershire Libraries
#GoodMentalHealth - MenTalk/GirlTalk - Cheltenham Town Community Trust
#AchievingBoys -The Rock activities programme - The Rock
#EatingWell - Make Lunch - The Rock
Contact the press office on communications@cheltenham.gov.uk | 0800 408 0000