• Mayor’s awards recognise the unsung community heroes helping others through the Covid-19 pandemic
• Winning volunteers secured £5,000 in funding for the organisation that nominated them.
An incredible group of volunteers who have selflessly supported their fellow Londoners during the Covid-19 pandemic have been recognised for special awards by the Mayor Sadiq Khan.
This year’s Mayor of London Volunteering Awards celebrated the work of the dedicated Londoners and community groups who have given their time, skills and resources to support their communities and neighbourhoods throughout the pandemic.
From hundreds of nominations spanning the length and breadth of the city, 13 winners were chosen in three categories: crisis response, delivering differently and community champions, plus the Mayor of London Young Londoners Awards.
Those honoured included
• a local collaboration between the Gospel Temple Apostolic Church, Tottenham Food Hub and Felix Project, who have been providing food to communities in Enfield and Haringey
• Roconect – an organisation that provides domestic violence support and mentoring services to vulnerable members of London’s Romanian community.
• Islington Mind, which engaged people recovering from mental health issues to provide support to local residents experiencing mental ill health
• Selsdon Covid-19 Response Team – a mutual aid group that coordinated the collection and delivery of food, medicine and other essentials during lockdown
All winners received £5000 in funding to support the continuation of the work of the organisation that nominated them.
The Mayor is a long-standing champion of the voluntary sector and volunteering is a key component of his social integration strategy. Sadiq encourages all Londoners who are able to seek out opportunities to serve their communities via the Team London website.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “These incredible volunteers reflect the very best of our city and, their vital contribution was needed more than ever this year.
“That is why I am so proud to celebrate and help support the organisations affiliated with this year’s winners. They have all risen to the occasion in a uniquely testing year and, on behalf of all Londoners, I want to say a heartfelt thank you. Our volunteering awards are a real highlight of the year - allowing us to recognise the inspiring, committed and selfless Londoners who help make our city the greatest in the world.
Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, Debbie Weekes-Bernard, said: “London’s voluntary sector is the beating heart of our capital and, at City Hall, we have been working actively to make volunteering more accessible.
“This year’s response to the global pandemic from volunteers across the city shows the importance of Londoners being active citizens.
“The award winners and all volunteers across the city have played a huge role in supporting us through a difficult time, and I would like to thank them all for their immense contribution and hard work.”
Notes to editors
The awards were announced on International Volunteer Day, Saturday 5 December 2020.
The full list of winners is listed below. You can learn more about them, and see the Mayor’s speech to the awards here - www.London.gov.uk/volunteeringawards :
Community Champions
- Gospel Temple Apostolic Church/Tottenham Food Hub/Felix Project (Enfield/Haringey)
These local groups joined forces to combat food poverty during the pandemic by delivering food – some of it surplus from the local Morrisons - twice a week to residents of Enfield and Haringey.
- Archbishop’s Park Community Trust/Roots and Shoots SEN project (Lambeth)
The Archbishop’s Park Community Trust partners with SEN charity Roots and Shoots to offer weekly work placements teaching practical skills in park, woodland and orchard management to students with learning difficulties.
- East African Association/ Streatham Academy FC (Lambeth)
The organisation provides mental health support to young Londoners through counselling and works to connect members of Lambeth’s Somali community with the wider community locally.
- Lewisham Homes/Evelyn Community Store/Fareshare (Lewisham)
The Evelyn Community Store was set up in March 2019 in response to the persistent issue of food poverty in the local community. The partnership aims to ensure that no resident goes without food.
Crisis Response
- Imperial Health Charity (Westminster/Hammersmith and Fulham)
Imperial Health Charity’s team of Crisis Response Volunteers played a critical role in providing extra support to NHS staff on the front line at the five hospitals of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in North West London – Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea, St Mary’s and the Western Eye.
- Janet Irwin - St Nicholas Church (Wandsworth)
Janet is in her late 70s and, despite shielding, continued supporting vulnerable members of the community by making phone calls to those who were isolated and ensuring that people who were ill or quarantining received food deliveries.
- Jaz Potter, Selsdon Covid 19 Response Team (Croydon)
During the first Lockdown Jaz set up 60 volunteer Street Champions in every street in Selsdon to act as central point of reference for collecting medication and food shopping. She brought different organisations and volunteers together to ensure the most vulnerable were looked after.
- Roconect (Multiple Boroughs)
In collaboration with the Romanian Consulate, Roconect helped provide more than 700 people in need with food, accommodation in hostels, plane tickets back to Romania, jobs (and transport to those jobs), clothing, documentation and counselling.
Delivering Differently
- Free2b Alliance (Wandsworth)
This year the Alliance provided 1:1 and peer support groups to LGBTQ+ young people, adapting in-person services for online provision to support the wellbeing and mental health of a community disproportionately affected by the isolation of lockdown.
- Islington Mind (Islington)
During the pandemic Islington Mind engaged adult residents themselves recovering from long-term mental health issues to provide COVID-secure peer support to vulnerable service users.
- Molly Cox; Billie Sue & Liam, Outside Edge Theatre Company (Multiple Boroughs)
The Outside Edge Theatre Company provides creative activities for people affected by addiction and host weekly peer-led workshops to help aid recovery, spark creativity and reduce social isolation.
- Diviano Crooks, Southside Young Leaders Academy (Multiple Boroughs)
Diviano Crooks is a full-time maths teacher and volunteer CEO who established a partnership with Ark Academy to help reach a wider section of the community in Southwark. Diviano helped re-launch the charity via Instagram and Zoom at the height of the pandemic.
Young Volunteers
- Havering Volunteering Centre (Havering)
During lockdown young volunteers delivered PPE equipment, emergency food parcels, prescriptions and click and collect shopping as well as providing dog walks on behalf of community members.