Today we look at the fifth category in our countdown to the Examiner Community Awards.

The glittering night at the John Smith’s Stadium on Thursday, May 23 will highlight everything that’s positive about Huddersfield.

The awards are split into 14 categories and we are profiling every one between now and the night itself so you know just who has been nominated and shortlisted.

The winners will be revealed at the event which is hosted by ITN newsreader Nina Hossain.

Today we are looking at the three who have made the shortlist in the Community Project section sponsored by Ramsdens Solicitors.

RAMSDENS Solicitors is a forward-thinking, award-winning, progressive law firm with its roots firmly embedded in the region – a local firm serving private individuals and commercial businesses.

With 160 team members and nine offices across Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield, Ramsdens is the cornerstone of the legal community.

Ramsdens are proud supporters of the Examiner Community Awards 2013.

Ramsdens managing partner Paul Joyce said: “Ramsdens recognise the importance of supporting the Examiner Community Awards and this is our third year to be involved.

“Holding these awards is central to the local community because it establishes a sense of pride in what we are all doing.

“Getting people together to celebrate what we as a community have achieved and also recognising the not-for-profit work in Kirklees that is also being done is important to all of us.”

HUDDERSFIELD Town’s new Ability Counts programme is giving disabled youngsters and adults the chance to get involved in football.

The club, launched in January, runs sessions at The Zone near the Stadium on Sundays and Wednesdays and is going from strength to strength.

Ability Counts operates with a team of five coaches – including three volunteers – and caters for children and adults with physical and mental disabilities and learning difficulties.

It follows the success of Town fun days which run every quarter and regularly attract more than 60 participants. This scheme, funded by Kirklees Council, runs until July and, provided organisers can secure funding, will resume in September.

The sessions currently attract around 25 to 30 regular adult players and a dozen youngsters aged eight to 18. Their aim is to enable players to develop their football skills and to make friends along the way.

Players can also represent Huddersfield Town in the West Riding County Football Association Ability Counts League. They are graded according to physical abilities and tactical awareness.

Young participants also have the Šopportunity to attend stadium tours and really feel as though they are a part of Town. Many have previously tried mainstream sporting activities, but found it difficult to cope.

Disability Football Development Officer James Doyle believes the scheme is really changing lives and is delighted that, as news spreads, more and more people are joining in.

“The club is growing,” he said. “Word of mouth from parents is massive and their glowing references are better than any brochure I can send out.

“As well as the huge physical benefits of the scheme, there is also the social aspect. Many people with disabilities can become isolated and here they can make friends and take part equally.

“It replicates mainstream sport and gives everybody a chance and we are very pleased with the success of the scheme.”

Kirklees Council’s Claire Howe said: “Winning this award would help raise the profile of the club and give further opportunities for disabled young people to take part in football in an environment which enables them to fully participate and offers a truly Šinspirational experience.”

A COMMUNITY centre set up and run by a band of dedicated local residents is flourishing.

Greenfields Family Centre is a grassroots charity with no mainstream funding, yet provides a range of invaluable services for the people of Dalton, Rawthorpe and Moldgreen.

Originally a group of nine parents got together in 1997 to set up a pre-school group. Dalton School offered space, but then its nursery building was virtually destroyed by arsonists, leaving it short of space.

For three years the determined parents applied for grants and held fundraising activities to restore, expand and equip the nursery building in the school grounds. Finally, in 2000, they opened their doors to the first toddlers.

Since then the Dalton Green Lane centre has continued to expand, and despite these austere times, has managed to stay afloat while remaining self-funding.

Today it is home to Grasshoppers Pre-School Playgroup, which serves 50 families, and Dalton Out Of School Club. This runs every day before and after school and in the holidays, providing breakfasts and a wide range of activities for children from 100 families.

Good Companions is a social group for elderly residents which meets every week and also organises regular trips out for lunch or to the seaside or markets. Some elderly members have described the group as a ‘lifeline’.

Greenfields hosts a computer club for all abilities every Wednesday and Thursday and it is currently providing six places for local childcare apprentices. It also has a minibus which is loaned to other community organisations.

According to Lesley Stephenson, founder member and part-time co-ordinator, everyone who works at the centre also puts in countless hours of unpaid voluntary work.

One example is the handyman, paid for 16 hours a week, who recently clocked up 300 hours in five weeks, making sure the building met inspection standards.

Lesley said: “We work hand-to-mouth and this has been the toughest year we have ever experienced. Our volunteers are so important – they all work above and beyond the call of duty, but the unbelievable gratitude we get from the local community makes it all worthwhile.”

WHEN funding disappeared overnight for one of the biggest and most successful schools sports partnerships in the country it looked like the writing was on the wall.

Cuts in 2011 meant that the School Sport Partnership (SSP), run by Newsome High School and Sports College, would no longer receive any Government money.

The venture had been extremely successful, actively involving 47 local schools and 10,000 children, and organisers were determined not to let it die.

School leaders sat down with school sports co-ordinator Linda Stacey and decided they would go it alone.

Countless hours spent drumming up support, attending meetings and organising events paid off and the result was that SPIN (Sporting Partnerships and Initiatives from Newsome) was born.

Now, 18 months on, SPIN is one of the biggest sports partnerships in the country, involving 21 schools and more than 5,000 children, thanks to a lot of hard work and passion from the Newsome staff.

Linda said: “The cuts were devastating, but because our partnership had been so successful, we were determined to keep it.

“We said ‘OK, what are we going to do about it?’ and set up SPIN.”

The partnership runs a host of sporting activities and competitions for pupils of all ages and abilities around Huddersfield, with a pathway for talented athletes and leadership programmes for pupils.

SPIN organises 22 Change for Life clubs in primary schools, promoting healthy eating and daily exercise. It also has linked with local tennis and golf clubs to get children interested at an early age.

Linda has recently introduced a handball club and Newsome is the lead school in West Yorkshire for disability sports, which include goalball, sitting volleyball and Paralympics sports days.

Schools now have to pay for these events, so quality is paramount. But SPIN has got the formula right, as the number of participating schools continues to grow month on month.

Linda added: “It’s hard work – we are very, very busy, but it’s brilliant. It is all about the kids and if they are taking up sports and having a healthy lifestyle, it is absolutely worth it.”