Scottish Charity Awards winners - 2011

Winners of the Scottish Charity Awards 2011 celebrated at this year’s ceremony at the Mansfield Traquair Centre in Edinburgh

Third Sector Hebrides wins Charity of the Year 2011

Almost 300 people attended the Scottish Charity Awards 2011 at the Mansfield Traquair Centre on Thursday 16 June.

A pioneering rural organisation which has created employment and boosted an island’s economy is the 2011 Scottish Charity of the Year.

Third Sector Hebrides beat off stiff competition from a host of organisations at this year’s Scottish Charity Awards to win the prestigious accolade.

The judges were particularly impressed by the range of services the local third sector support body provides to its rural community and the way that it has helped ensure the long-­term sustainability of the local economy in the Hebrides.

Set up to support the local voluntary sector, Third Sector Hebrides has grown from a body employing two people in 1985 to an organisation which today has a staff of 40 and a turnover of £1 million.

It was praised for its innovation and valuable contribution to the community, including its role as a major local employer.

It runs the award­-winning Hebridean Choc­olates social enterprise, its community newspaper Am Pàipear, and Staran, its
gardening and ground maintenance enterprise.

Alasdair Nicholson , chief executive of Third Sector Hebrides said the award created a record for the group over the last few months.

He added: “The bard Willie Neil wrote ‘we seek tomorrow’s tidings on bannered clouds who’s tale is hid from those who do not sail.’ We all need this sense of adventure, and willingness to try new ventures if we are to be successful in creating new opportunities.”

Laura Lee, the woman who has taken the inspiration of Maggie Keswick Jenks and turned it into the UK­wide multi­million pound Maggie’s Cancer Care charity, has won Charity Champion.

Lee, who was Maggie’s oncology nurse, worked with her to open the first centre, which provides holistic support to people with cancer, in Edinburgh 15 years ago. Following Maggie’s death, she took the fledgling organisation and has turned it into one of the UK’s best known and most loved charities.

Over the last 15 years, the success of Maggie’s Centres has been phenomenal. As well as the UK, Maggies has centres opening across the world, including Barcelona and Hong Kong.

Lee said: “I am so honoured to be named Charity Champion of the year. I must say, I am filled with optimism and hope for the future for the charitable sector across Scotland.

“I must take the chance to thank all our supporters across the years, as each and every one of them are charity
champions in my mind, and I accept this award on behalf of them all and on behalf of Maggie herself, who is the my
inspiration every day.”

The keenly contested Community Action Award went to the Galgael Trust, a pioneering charity based in Glasgow’s southside. Started in the mid­-1990s by a group of unemployed people, the charity works with recovering addicts and
unemployed people in Govan, teaching them skills through traditional boat­ building projects.

Judges praised its work with people from all backgrounds often including addiction, homelessness and poor mental health to become positive members of their community.

Meanwhile, Campaign of the Year was awarded to the National Union of Students Scotland and student association members for the student bursary campaign which raised a petition signed by 32,000 students against cuts to bursaries.

“In a year that has been dominated by higher education issues, students in further education showed that politicians ignore college students at their peril,” said Jennifer Cadiz, depute president of NUS Scotland. “We are therefore honoured to have been shortlisted for the Campaign of the Year, particularly alongside so many other worthy organisations.”

And the Partnership Award went to worthy winners Circle and HMP Addiewell. The project supports offenders through their transition from prison back into the community, working to reduce the possibility of re-offending. “This award is recognition of the fact that effective partnership working has enabled us all to make a tremendous difference to the lives of many families with children affected by parental imprisonment,” said Liz Dahl, chief executive of Circle.

The Scottish Charity Awards are organised by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. This year they took place in Edinburgh’s Mansfield Traquair Centre.