Awards
The winners of the London Health Commission Awards were announced at a gala ceremony event at City Hall on Monday 20th September. The winners are six small community-based organisations and one small business selected from over 120 applications from across the capital.
The winners in the six categories were:
1. Mayor’s Award for Active Travel in partnership with Transport for London
Boris with Hillingdon Slipstreamers
(left to right: Brian Wright,
Alison Grant, Mayor, John Gunn)
- Hillingdon Slipstreamers – a volunteer-run children’s Saturday morning cycling club that is encouraging young people to cycle more often and get them out in the fresh air. The club promotes social, community and competitive cycling to benefit health, fitness andenjoyment.
- Wheels for well-being – a Lambeth-based charity enabling disabled people to cycle safely as a form of transport and off the road inparks and green spaces.
Mayor with Wheels for Well-being
(left to right back row: Pat Hughes
London Health Commission, Mayor,
Janet Paske Coordinator,
Heather Goodwin, Manager;
front row Isabelle Clement, Chair)
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said, “I’ve been terrifically impressed with the two winners of my Active Travel Award, so much so we were unable to decide between them and have given them both the award. These two groups exemplify what can be achieved by the hard work of local communities. Both groups are increasing skills andconfidence of cyclists and aredelivering a high quality product through their trained volunteers. I 
commend their efforts and am delighted tosee this kind of activity springing up all across London – especially where individuals are volunteering their time. I’d like to thank the London Health Commission for organising the scheme and bringing community development and the role of health in business to a wider audience.”
2. Community cohesion – inpartnership with NHS London
left to right Pat Hughes, LHC, Jo Panter,
Mike Bell, NHS London and Pat Holt
- Association of Greater London Older Women - for theirperformance work challenging ageism across service deliverers and getting people talking about good practice and how it can be achieved.
3. Mental well-being - sponsored by University of East London
The Stuart Low Trust – fortheir ‘Outings project’ that helps people with mental health issues and a range of other issues to visit places of interest they would find difficult to visit alone. The visits cement new friendships and mutual support as well as build confidence and mental well-being. The visits are widely enjoyed and include a healthy lunch.
4. Partnership Achievement – in partnership with London Development Agency
(left to right Pat Hughes, LHC, Emily
Mason, Maslaha, Tony Medawar,
London Development Agency)
- Maslaha – is working with GP surgeries and Mile end Hospital and local imams to help the Muslim community in Tower Hamlets and Westminster with diabetes to access services and manage the illness.
5. Well London – supported by the Big Lottery Fund
Junction Road members (centre)
with Pat Hughes, LHC (left)
and Margaret Cooney,
Big Lottery Fund (right)
- The Junction Residents’ Association – for bringing together local people to create an attractive, safe, clean space for residents to enjoy. They have worked with many agencies to build local partnerships and have successfully fundraised a programme of open space improvements and fun activities.
6. Small and medium business
Debbie Alexander with Pat Hughes,
LHC left and Stephen Williams,
London Director of the
Health & Safety ExecutiveGood jobs – Sponsored by HSELondon and Health, Work and Well-being programme
Happy – an IT training, management and personal development, and online learning company where 100% of the staff work flexibly in a way that supports the ‘whole’ person to create a motivated engaged and loyal workforce.
In announcing the winners Professor Patricia Hughes, the London Health Commission’s education representative said, “These Awards champion the terrific contribution made day in day out by small grassroots community groups and small businesses across London. Often they are unaware of the role they play in preventing illnessthrough
bringing people together,building social networks and taking action on important issues for their communities.It’s great to see innovative business models that are delivering both for the employees and increased productivity and efficiency for the business. I’ve been inspired by the high quality of applications this year and the winners who are truly outstanding”.
All winners will receive prizes including having their own film made about their organisation as well as a prize of £1,000 for the five community groups.
Quotes from sponsors and supporters:
Ruth Carnall, Chief Executive, NHS London
"We are proud to support the Cohesive Communities award, particularly as it celebrates groups who work across London's diverse population to bring communities together.
This is something that NHS London is strongly committed. We believe that local communities and individuals should be able to take ownership of their healthcare and work with their local health services to improve the NHS in the capital.
I'd like to personally congratulate the Association of Greater London Older Women for their award. The work they have done to raise awareness and challenge ageism along with other forms of discrimination across health and social care is truly fantastic."
Stephen Williams, HSE Director for London and the 2012 Games said:
‘I would like to congratulate Happy and pay tribute to the quality of all the projects shortlisted. Here is proof of the range of benefits to be gained by businesses that make commonsense decisions and take practical actions to manage workplace health. I hope others take note of this initiative and find useful solutions to help business lead and promote well-being for all their staff.’
Patrick McGhee, Vice Chancellor, University of East London
‘ I am delighted for the University of East London to be sponsoring the London Health Commission Awards that recognise the excellent and proactive work which has been done by so many inspiring organisations across London. Like these organizations we at the University of East London are keen to share and promote these values not only through our role as a teaching and research institution but as part of our contribution to the wider community.’
