Scottish charity awards 2021 winners announced

The winners of an annual awards ceremony dedicated to recognising Scotland's voluntary sector have been announced.

The online event, hosted by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Friday.

The winner of this year's Charity of the year award has gone to Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity (ECHC) for its efforts supporting children in hospital over the last year.

The charity also won this year's People's Choice, a category decided by the public which saw over 12,000 votes cast.

The winner for campaign of the year went to Stop It Now! Scotland - Get Help or Get Caught, a campaign providing specialist self-help resources designed for people who are worried about their own online behaviour towards children and young people.

Volunteer of the year went to Shawn Nicholas Fernandez from Central and West Integration Network, a Scottish charity which works with individuals and groups to support asylum seekers and refugees, migrant workers and black and minority ethnic people.

Mr Fernandez aspires to be a role model for both BAME and disadvantaged communities, and was recognised by the panel for making a positive impact in communities across Glasgow by delivering Cyber Crime Prevention Awareness Workshops.

He also created a space through a community gardening project to help refugees by encouraging them to spend more time in nature to benefit their mental health and wellbeing.

The winners of Pioneering project of the year went to Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs who set up Click and Deliver Naloxone.

The programme provided free Naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdose, by post to any adult in Scotland and training services about the drug.

Employee of the year went to Nicola Bell at Carers Trust Scotland.

Ms Bell set up #Supermarkets4Change, campaigning to raise awareness of unpaid carers with supermarkets to include young carers in the protected hours set aside for vulnerable people to shop.

The Community Action winner was Cumbernauld Resilience, a group set up in March 2020 to provide a community-based response to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, uniting people from all over Cumbernauld from a diverse demographic to help each other.

Winners of this year's Climate Conscious award were Forth Valley Sensory Centre and its Making Sense of Energy Saving programme.

The project helped people cut their energy bills and helped a number of deaf and blind people who were struggling to heat their homes and pay their bills by fitting new windows and securing new heating systems.

Robert Smith from Linkes (SCIO) was crowned winner of the Trustee of the year award.

In response to the pandemic, Mr Smith set-up a food distribution project and between March - September 2020, his team of volunteers delivered 18,000 meals and 2,000 grocery packs to people in need.

Since October he has also overseen logistics of a weekly food hub.

The Digital citizens award went to People Know How which has, over the last year, provided devices, digital skills and connectivity to thousands of people across Edinburgh and East Lothian helping people stay connected to loved ones throughout the pandemic.

Anna Fowlie, chief executive of SCVO, said: "newsAt SCVO we know that fantastic work is going on all the time in the voluntary sector and we were delighted to celebrate the achievements and successes of our finalists and winners at this year's Scottish Charity Awards.

"We had a record-breaking number of entries this year and each one demonstrated just how well the voluntary sector has responded and adapted to changes and restrictions over the past 12 months.

"Thanks to our sponsors, the team at the EICC, our host Sally Magnusson and everyone who applied and voted for making this year's Awards so special.

"Congratulations to our winners for 2021.''

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