Group Vote
Voting is now closed.
Group Vote
Group Awards
The winning group will be voted for by the public through this website. Select the organisation that you would like to win and feel is the most deserving below. The winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony.
Please remember only one vote per person. Voting closes at midnight on 11 October 2018.
Here are the 2018 nominees:
Flamingo Chicks
Flamingo Chicks is an inclusive community giving disabled children and those with illnesses the opportunity to enjoy dance alongside their friends. Their classes focus on ballet and also intertwine storytelling, music and characterisation to provide inspiring sessions that break down the barriers that disabled people often face. Through their classes, they are not only able to help children develop key skills, parents and carers benefit from a vital peer-to-peer support network too.
Flamingo Chicks exists to champion inclusion and to create a world where every disabled child enjoys their right to access services and opportunities to realise their full potential.
In four years they have grown from a community group to reaching 2,500 families a year in the UK. They also deliver outreach projects around the world and their advocacy work has been heard at Downing Street and the United Nations in New York amongst other high profile places.
Flamingo Chicks has been working in Yorkshire for the past two and a half years and they provide regular classes in the Halifax, Bradford, and York areas, as well as workshops in other areas across the county. Alongside this, many of the Yorkshire Flamingo Chicks children have performed at Northern Ballet’s ‘Expressions’ showcase for the past two years as well as at other public events. Their work in the region has reached a wide variety of organisations, including refugee support centres and children’s hospices, as well as schools, local authorities, and family support groups.
Carers' Resource
Carers’ Resource is a Yorkshire charity. Part of our work is to support young carers aged 7 to 18. These children’s lives are affected by having a parent or sibling with a physical or mental illness, a disability or an addiction to drugs or alcohol. They can carry the responsibility for chores, looking after younger siblings, providing personal care, often giving emotional support and holding the family together.
Because so much of their time is taken up with “caring” they may not have time to play, attend after school activities or socialise with their peers. They become isolated and often the target for bullies. We see young carers, even as young as 7, who are tired and anxious and lonely.
On a daily basis they put others first, they show courage in the face of challenges that many adults would find daunting. We give these children individual support when they need it.
When we bring them together at youth clubs and on trips they show tremendous compassion and support for each other. They say that while it is not possible to change their situations, being part of our project makes them happier and better able to cope.
SNAPS (Special Needs and Parent Support Yorkshire CIO)
SNAPS is a Leeds based charity which started in 2004, and operates on two sites every Saturday in term time between 9.30am and 1.30pm to provide leisure activities for children with additional needs on a non-referral basis.
At Penny Field School in Meanwood, North Leeds, we provide rebound therapy and hydrotherapy sessions led by paediatric physiotherapists, along with swimming lessons with a qualified instructor. Our second site is Broomfield School in Belle Isle, South Leeds. There we have rebound therapy, along with a ball pool and sensory room. We deliver 500 20 minute therapy sessions each term for children for £9 each, roughly one quarter of the commercial cost. SNAPS is fully privately funded, receiving no Council funding.
We encourage the whole family to participate in a range of inclusive activities, which can be arts and crafts, soft play, boccia, story sessions, music therapy or a children’s entertainer. There’s time for chatting with other families too, swapping ‘battle stories’ and building networks and friendships.
SNAPS also provides part-time paid employment, and training opportunities, for 25 people, which is a significant investment in the local economy.
