News

Better Communications Awards 2007

On Friday 23rd March The City Bridge Trust hosted a joint event with the Media Trust at the Barbican Centre called “Better Communications Awards 2007”. This was an awards ceremony to reward groups who have improved their communications skills as a result of attending Media Training workshops run by the Media Trust and funded by The City Bridge Trust. Hosting the event was actress Lynda Bellingham who is best known for playing the long-suffering mum in the OXO adverts for over fifteen years. Winners included CENFACS – The Centre for Francophone African Development, a group which works with Francophone Africans for whom English is their second language, Sydenham Garden, an environmental project for people with mental heath issues; Merton Cycling Campaign who provide cycle training for “lapsed” cyclists and Twickenham & Thames Valley Bee Keepers’ Association who train local people in bee-keeping.

The workshops, which form the background to these awards, were developed over five years to equip charities with communication skills - an area becoming increasingly specialist and competitive, not least for a sector challenged by its limited resources. The winning charities and organisations in the second bi-annual awards, clearly demonstrated how the workshops had improved their ability to represent the voices of those they benefit – often those least represented in society.

The event was an unqualified success, with over 200 people in attendance. Clare Thomas, Chief Grants Officer for The City Bridge House Trust commented; “We congratulate all the winners on their well-deserved awards! We are delighted to see tangible benefits for organisations as a result of the workshops we have run with the Media Trust. Not only did the sessions provide excellent training, they also provided charities with new streams of support. Previously disparate groups were brought together and were made aware that many of the problems they were facing were felt universally across the sector.”