TODAY we profile the three shortlisted nominees in our final category, Community Project Of The Year, as our countdown to the Examiner Community Awards comes to an end.

 The winners in this – as in all the other categories we have featured over the last two weeks – will be revealed at the awards ceremony hosted by newsreader Nina Hossain, left, at the Galpharm Stadium on Monday.

A DEDICATED band of volunteers has spent almost 20 years transforming a Huddersfield forest from a fly-tipper’s dumping ground to a beauty spot.

And now people are enjoying the benefits of all Woodscape’s hard work in the dozens of acres of land in Bradley Woods on the edge of the town.

One of the founders, Dan Ilsley, said: “When we set up the group in 1992 there was a lot of fly-tipping, burned-out cars and general vandalism in the woods. The place was regarded by many as a wasteland.

“We’ve created footpaths, set up benches and picked up litter.

“People have stopped considering the woods to be a place where they can dump their old sink. We’ve transformed the perception of the area.”

Dan works on the woodlands every Saturday with a team of around 10 volunteers.

And on Fridays a group of eight people with learning disabilities from Kirklees Council’s Gateway to Care work at the site.

Dan said: “I think it gives them a sense of contributing. Too often they are sidelined and don’t feel they are of any use.

“But when they’re working you can see their self-esteem lifting.”

Dan, who lives in Bradley, moved to England from his native Canada 25 years ago.

He explained why he enjoys working in the woods.

“It’s a way of meeting my neighbours and like-minded people,” he said.

“I get a lot of pleasure out of the work. It’s a healthy thing and it gives me a sense of accomplishment.”

ADVICE , help and support are vital – and people get all three from Gateway To Care.

It is a joint venture between Kirklees Council, the NHS and several charities and has volunteers who spend time helping people in many different ways.

This can be with adults with learning disabilities and mental health problems and the organisation, based on Market Street in Huddersfield town centre, also supports people who are recuperating from strokes.

Volunteer manager Janet Edmunds said: “Gateway to Care is about enabling people to continue to live independently and to have a better quality of life.

“We have a team of workers who may come into contact with people that need a little bit of help to start doing something. It’s about giving people the extra confidence they need.”

Ms Edmunds gave examples of how the eight volunteers help people.

She said: “We worked with an elderly gentleman who didn’t feel comfortable going into town because his speech had been affected by a stroke.

“We went with him to the supermarket and encouraged him to speak to the person behind the till.