WHO ARE our Streets Ahead stars; the unsung heroes who make the city a great place to live and work? The Evening Times, with the support of Clean Glasgow, is hosting its second annual awards night in honour of the men, women and children who have helped to transform our city over the past year.
Our community campaign has been making a difference in every corner of Glasgow since 2011. Now, it is time to reward the inspiring individuals, brilliant businesses and creative communities determined to change their communities for the better.
We want to hear about the wonderful work being carried out under the Streets Ahead banner, whether it’s lunchtime litter-picks, community gardens, road safety, flower-planting projects or something completely different…
We will be awarding eight prizes, including an overall winner, to be chosen by the judging panel, at a special ceremony in the Winter Gardens on June 13.
There will be trophies for the best garden, best clean-up campaign, best environmental initiative, best community garden, best community initiative and best business initiative, plus a schools award.
The best garden prize will be presented to the best residential garden. Perhaps you know of someone who always keeps his or her garden looking beautiful, or who is on hand to provide support and advice to friends and neighbours?
The clean-up campaign category celebrates the best clean-up initiatives taking place across the city. We want to hear from people who have come together to tidy up their local area, whether it’s a street, gardens, allotments or even a park. We will be looking for campaigns to demonstrate what has been achieved for the whole community.
The award for best environmental initiative will be presented to the city’s best ‘green’ project, whether it’s a recycling scheme, a road safety initiative or something else. We want applicants to demonstrate what environmental benefits their project has for the community.
For the best community garden category, we will be looking for gardens which are used by the whole community. We want to hear about how they were set up, who benefits and why they deserve to win.
Across Glasgow, communities are banding together to improve their local areas for the benefit of everyone who lives and works there.
The winner of the best community initiative category will be an exceptional example of a project which encourages people to work together to make a real difference to people’s lives.
The Green Glasgow Business Award will be presented to the company, large or small, which has played its part in keeping Glasgow clean and green. It could be through recycling initiatives or waste management, or by getting involved in community projects that aim to improve the local area for everyone.
The schools award will be presented to a nursery, primary, second or assisted support for learning school which can demonstrate what contribution it has made to its local community. It could be through regular clean-ups, eco-friendly initiatives or gardening – the sky is the limit!
The overall winner will be chosen from the winners of all the other categories.
Councillor Gordon Matheson, chairman of the Clean Glasgow campaign and leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “These awards are a great opportunity to recognise the fantastic work being done across Glasgow by groups and individuals to enhance their communities. It’s always heartening to hear about people taking great pride in their surroundings and helping Clean Glasgow make the city a cleaner, safer place. City residents play a huge part in our efforts to keep the city looking its best and it’s particularly nice when schools get involved in environmental projects. I’d urge anyone who knows of a worthy project to nominate it for an award.”
Streets Ahead is also supported by our partners, City Charitable Trust, Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Sir Willie Haughey, chairman of City Charitable Trust, said: “The Trust has worked strenuously over the years to make Glasgow a better place and, through campaigns like Streets Ahead, we have been happy to work with our partners and the ordinary men, women, boys and girls of the city to continue to help improve the lives of all who live here.”
GHA chairman Gordon Sloan said: “At GHA we’re firmly focused on improving the communities we serve and that’s why we’re proud to support Streets Ahead. There have been many great examples of projects – led by local residents – showcased in the Evening Times. Now it’s time to give them the recognition they deserve by nominating them for a Streets Ahead Award.”
Assistant Chief Officer Lewis Ramsay, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s Executive Director of Prevention and Protection, said: “The Fire and Rescue Service has been involved in Streets Ahead since the very beginning and firefighters across Glasgow continue to be actively engaged in a range of local projects, through the programme. Working directly with neighbourhoods and partner agencies in this way provides a great opportunity to deliver fire safety advice and also supports local regeneration.”
Evening Times editor Tony Carlin said: “Our second year of Streets Ahead has been fantastic. “People across the city have been inspired by our campaign to dig, plant, clean-up and work together on a whole raft of projects and we are delighted to have helped so many. With the support of Clean Glasgow, our second, glittering awards night will reward some of the best projects and most hard-working individuals playing their part in making Glasgow a better city. I’m looking forward to hearing our readers’ nominations for the Streets Ahead awards.”
To nominate yourself or someone else, email lyndsay.wilson@heraldandtimes.co.uk or call 0141 302 7407.