In addition to recognising and rewarding the great work of councillors, the C’llr Awards provide a unique opportunity for the voices of ordinary people to be heard. This is because, unlike many other awards, the LGiU and CCLA encourage members of the public to come forward and nominate local councillors for an award.
In particular, local residents are ideally placed to nominate councillors for the Community Champion of the Year award, which will be presented to a councillor who has really got to the grass roots of their community, and campaigned on the issues that matter to them.
A great example of this sort of community-centred work was given by last year’s winner in this category, Councillor Luthfur Rahman (Manchester City Council). Cllr Rahman successfully developed links with marginalised groups across Manchester, and, furthermore, was at the forefront of an effort to bridge the various gaps between different generations. Importantly, after establishing these new connections, Cllr Rahman effectively used these channels to ensure that council decisions were sensitive to the different interests of different sections of the community.
Similarly, the 2012 Community Champion of the Year award will be presented to a councillor who has demonstrated:
- visible efforts to engage communities and individuals in decisions about their local area, leading to better decisions for local people
- an understanding of the different views of communities within their area and that they effectively represent these views to the council
- strong relationships with community activists and community groups
- excellent communication and facilitation skills
So if you feel that a specific councillor has effectively championed the interests of their community, then please show your appreciation of their fantastic work by nominating them for this year’s Community Champion of the Year award.
Anybody can do this by simply completing one of our new, streamlined nomination forms, which can be downloaded, along with further instructions, here.
The closing date for entries in this category is 30th December, 2011.
For more information on the 2012 LGiU and CCLA C’llr Achievement Awards, please visit www.lgiu.org/cllrawards, or email awards@lgiu.org.
