Here are the three nominees shortlisted for Community Project of the Year in the Pride of Huddersfield Awards 2016.

The awards ceremony will be staged at the John Smith’s Stadium on Thursday, May 26 when the winners in each category will be announced.

Pride of Huddersfield Awards

Here are the nominees for Community Project of the Year

The Great Outdoors

A project called The Great Outdoors gives people a whole new outlook on life.

It is managed by the Kirklees mental health charity S2R which stands for Support to Recovery.

The project was nominated by Janet Pollard, of Sheepridge, who said: “The aim of The Great Outdoors is to help people get involved in environmental activities and this works on two levels. There is lots of evidence that this benefits wellbeing and health, both physical and mental, and the recognition that improving our local community environment makes people living there feel less stressed and more satisfied. This is especially important when budgets for Kirklees are being reduced.

“The Great Outdoors (TGO) reduces anxiety and depression, raises confidence and self esteem. People who have been on it have moved into work or further training, acquired new skills, made friends and reduced loneliness.”

Its work has already made small improvements to the environment and people can propose small projects which TGO can help to kickstart.

TGO gets people into eco-volunteering and activities which include food growing, bee-keeping and willow weaving, helps people with mental health problems, provides mental health awareness training and support and works to reduce stigma around mental illness.

It has allotments in Birkby which encourages novice gardeners to take on plots with support from more experienced gardeners and a new allotment buddy scheme is being set up to support older gardeners to keep up their plots.

It works with locals to take on and manage woodland, improving wildlife habitats as well as public access.

The displays of sunflowers which filled St George’s Square when the Tour de France visited Huddersfield were grown by TGO volunteers with support of the staff at the Leeds Road Bradley Nursery.

Janet added: “This project is now two years old and could not have been successful without really innovative partnerships. The project is now working to become a centre point for local environmental activity, hosting meetings and supporting and working with local people to develop partnerships and build effective community networks.”

Community Cards

An idea has grown into a project which has not only raised thousands of pounds for charity but also given many people a new outlook on life.

Several groups have been set up to make new greetings cards out of old ones people would otherwise have thrown away.

And they have done such a wonderful job they have sold well over 10,000 since the project was set up in 2011 to raisee £7,700 for The Welcome Centre in Huddersfield town centre which gives food parcels to needy people.

It all started with Nigel Clews from Berry Brow who had a brainwave shortly after he’d given a homeless person in Huddersfield some food and a hot drink.

He thought there must be more he could do and then recalled a project in Gloucestershire where his late father donated old greetings cards and volunteers then ‘upcycled’ them, making new cards to sell for between 50p and £1 to raise charity cash. Upcycling means they are turned into something different and often unique.

Nigel found some old Christmas, birthday and anniversary cards in his garage and started to make them into new ones. He contacted the Cheltenham card-making group to pick their support and ideas and then drew up prototypes and templates and sold his first cards. He then enlisted others to help.

The Community Cards project was nominated by Mairi MacKay, who said: “Nigel’s enthusiasm and attention to detail has given rise to several card-making groups in the Huddersfield area. Those who are housebound but able to check the cards over and trim to the correct size are quite happy to work alone while others prefer group meetings. Four groups have now been set up and the aim is to get people out of the house. Some just enjoy talking to someone different, for some it is respite from caring for a family member while others have mental health issues.”

Nigel, 54, said: “I never realised what I was taking in – it’s just grown and grown but that’s wonderful.”

Now more than 70 volunteers are involved in the card-making and the groups meet in Brockholes, Meltham, Newsome and Linthwaite with the cards all sold locally to where they are made.

Greenhead College students make and sell cards as part of their enrichment time while others involved in the project include Kirklees College students who work with elderly people in Lockwood, Honley High pupils make cards with residents in care homes and Holmfirth High pupils donate an amazing number of cards to upcycle.

Mairi added: “This is a true community project bringing people together of all ages, taking time to forget their problems and working together to help those in need.”

The scheme has its own Facebook page which is www.communitycards.org.uk .

Nigel is married to Susan and the couple have a 20-year-old daughter, Lucy, who is also involved in the project.

Bev Burns and Trish Cooper from Yetton Together

Two women – helped by a dedicated band of volunteers – have given Kirkheaton a real sense of cohesion and community.

Bev Burns and Trish Mellor were founder members of Yetton Together (YT) in 2012 and since then several activities have been set up to breath new life into the village.

Trish became chair in 2012 and the group then faced the massive task of taking over the running of Kirkheaton Community Centre from Kirklees Council last August.

Before Yetton Together became involved the community centre only housed a playgroup and a library that opened 15 hours a week.

They have not only managed to keep the library open – increasing the number of people using it – and the playgroup also remains but the centre is now also home to a whole host of groups including a knit and natter group, a local history group, Yetton Hub social group that puts on events and speakers, a craft group, Yetty’s coffee shop, yoga, tai chi, flower arranging, youth activities in the school holidays, a lego club, a quiz night, an art group and Yetton Future which is a group compiling a neighbourhood plan.

YT also runs a monthly lottery to fund hanging baskets and containers around the village and delivers three issues of Yetton News each year to 2,500 homes while also managing the website www.yettontogether.org . The newsletter and the website are managed by Sue Bowyer who also devises walks in the area.

Yetton Together evolved out of a group called Kirkheaton Community Network set up by the village’s vicar the Rev Richard Steel to bring several groups in the village together to draw up a community plan.

Bev said: “Taking over the centre meant Yetton Together had to make an enormous transition from a community group to a registered charity. You would not believe the amount of work that has gone into this. It has involved about a dozen volunteers and we couldn’t have done it without them. Trish deals with people with fabulous understanding and empathy. She tries to please as many as possible although she is often rushed off her feet and possibly wonders what a normal life would be like. It’s like a full-time occupation for her.”

Bev was nominated by Lorna Idle from Kirkheaton, who said: “Bev, with the assistance of her husband Ron, are the leaders on the quiz night – a fundraising effort in which both are deeply involved – Ron producing the questions and Bev sorting out the supper and all the admin. It’s a brilliant evening and community get together!”

Trish said: “Yetton Together has become a holistic way of getting people together and involved. Bev spends hours on different projects and is well respected within the village of Kirkheaton.”

Bev is married to Ron and has one daughter, 20-year-old Lucy and three step-children Emma, Jennifer and Paul.

Trish, 66, is married to John and they have two children, Alex, 38, and Janine, 36 and one grandson, two-year-old Charlie.

Awards sponsor: Ramsdens Solicitors

Ramsdens solicitors logo

Ramsdens are an award-winning, full practice, local law firm who have been in Huddersfield for over 150 years.

Ramsdens are proud supporters of the Pride of Huddersfield Awards and have been involved for the last five years. This year Ramsdens are sponsoring the Community Project of the Year.

Paul Joyce, Managing Partner at Ramsdens, said: “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 Huddersfield that is important to everyone in the community.

“These awards reflect all that is good in Huddersfield and we’d like to wish good luck to all the finalists.’’