Children & Young People's Services Awards

The Award for Outstanding Achievement - Dame Mary Marsh

Mary Marsh has worked in the service of children and young people for 40 years, in the teaching profession and latterly as chief executive of children's charity NSPCC. Throughout her career, her work has been imbued with the values of multi-agency working, children's wellbeing and children's participation.

Best Corporate Parent - London Borough of Barking & Dagenham

The proportion of looked after young people in the borough achieving GCSEs has risen 300 per cent in the last four years: the team anticipates that 14 per cent of its care leavers - 45 young people - will go to university in 2008, 10 per cent above the national average.

Children & Young People's Champion - Ashuk Ahmed, Mitalee Youth Association

Ashuk Ahmed has developed and managed projects to promote community cohesion, combat racial inequality and address social problems such bullying and knife crime for 25 years in Luton and elsewhere.

The Health and Wellbeing Award - Trelya

Trelya, a Cornish charity working with children and young people at risk of social exclusion, reached 3,000 young people with a sensible drinking campaign: 80 per cent said the campaign had made them think about taking safer decisions.

The Stay Safe Award - Enfield Children & Young Persons' Service

Since 2007 the London Borough of Enfield has pioneered a scheme whereby local businesses and shops display a logo in their windows so that children and young people who are victims of bullying or crime, have lost their belongings, are lost or simply frightened can enter and ask for assistance.

The Financial Capability Award - Streetwork

Streetwork's Small Change project, aimed at young people on the streets of Edinburgh, reaches the most vulnerable homeless people or those at risk of becoming homeless, a client group not usually included in financial literacy work because they are outside formal economic activity.

Extended Schools Award - Park Community School

The Park Community School in Havant, near Portsmouth is at the centre of the community, raising aspirations and reducing social isolation.

The Play Award - Groundwork London

The Windmill Park Consortium of Partners and environmental charity Groundwork London identified three under-used green spaces on the Windmill Park Estate in Ealing, West London and embarked on an innovative programme of engagement and consultation with a challenging group of young people.

The Justice Award - The Howard League for Penal Reform

The Howard League for Penal Reform is the world's oldest penal reform charity and works to secure enduring improvements in the treatment of children and young people in the penal system, while trying to keep children out of custody and prevent re-offending.

Advice and Guidance - Merseyside Police

Merseyside Police created a confidential web-based reporting system to encourage victims, witnesses and third parties to inform the school and police about incidents confidentially.

Best Use of Information Systems - beat

Beat, the national charity for people affected by eating disorders, has used information technology to create and improve services such as a young people's message board, regular live chats, a text messaging service, email and youth helpline.

The Workforce Development Award - Bedfordshire County Council - Early Years and Extended Services Department

The Bedfordshire Training and Assessment Centre's Workforce Development Team aims to meet the needs of those working directly with young children so they can acquire appropriate skills and qualifications.

The Early Years Award - Riverside Children's Centre (Sure Start)

The Riverside Children's Centre in Canterbury helps soldiers in Afghanistan record bedtime stories onto a CD so their children can still hear their father's voice while he is away.

The Third Sector Engagement Award - No Limits

No Limits, a voluntary sector information, advice and counselling service for 11 to 25 year olds in Southampton, has developed strong ties with the statutory sector especially the Primary Care Trust and Southampton City Council.

Active Citizens Award - Aik Saath

Aik Saath, formed in response to serious racial tensions in Slough between Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities in the late 1990s, promotes peace and racial harmony through the teaching of conflict resolution skills.

The Anti-Bullying Award - Blackpool Council & Lancashire Constabulary Western Division and Blackpool Young People's Council

Diversity Fortnight, a multi-agency anti-bullying campaign in Blackpool, is a multi-agency project, spanning the statutory and voluntary sectors, that works with schools, colleges to promote equality, celebrating diversity and challenging bullying and discrimination.

The Integrated Working Award - Riverside Children's Centre (Sure Start)

The Riverside Children's Centre "Storytime Soldiers" initiative is a unique collaboraton with the Amy Welfare Service to keep soldiers in touch with their children when they are serving abroad..

The Arts and Culture Award - Creative Café

The Creative Café is a bi-monthly evening of music, dance, drama and visual art by young people for young people in Liverpool, supported by the city council and designed to nurture and celebrate young people's creativity.

Council of the Year - London Borough of Camden

The London Borough of Camden has achieved rapidly improving outcomes for children and young people at a time of constant change in the borough and the council itself.

Learning Award - The Great Lever Voice

The project aims to help young people in Great Lever, a suburb of Bolton, obtain vocational qualifications. From March 2007 until April 2008, the project worked with 247 young people and they have achieved 417 qualifications.

Preventative Work Award - Chance UK

Chance UK, a charity that provides focused mentoring for primary school children with behavioural difficulties, found that 45 per cent of the children it worked with no longer had a behavioural difficulties at its end and 89 per cent showed an improvement in their behaviour.

Youth Work Award - NUH (Nottingham University Hospitals) Youth Service

Nottingham University Hospitals' Youth Service gives support to young people who have a range of long-term illnesses and disabilities such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes, cancer and autism.

The Children & Young People's Services Team of the Year - Reach Pupil Referral Unit

The REACH Pupil Referral Unit in Stoke-on-Trent, established to support vulnerable young people on the verge of exclusion from their schools, has achieved some landmark outcomes including 100 per cent of key stage 4 pupils achieving three or more A-G GCSEs and nearly a third of pupils gaining three or more A-C GCSEs.