16/03/22: Community work has been shortlisted for a national award

Breckland Council has been shortlisted in the LGC Awards 2022 in recognition of its partnership work in the community.

The shortlisted nominations for these annual national awards were announced today, 16 March. The awards are run by the Local Government Chronicle to celebrate the outstanding work being done in local authorities across the country.

Breckland Council has been shortlisted in the category of Public/Public Partnership, for its Inspiring Communities programme. Inspiring Communities is the council's £1 million programme to develop a partnership and community-led approach to the prevention of vulnerability within Breckland. It was developed so Breckland Council could lead, enable and support a district-wide initiative to help our vulnerable residents by working in an innovative, collaborative and unique way with a range of partner organisations.

The achievements of the Inspiring Communities programme include:

• The establishment of an Early Help Collaboration Partnership, which holds weekly meetings bringing together statutory and voluntary organisations to provide early intervention support when difficulties emerge for families or individuals.
• Being commissioned by the NHS to provide a Social Prescribing Link Worker (SPLW) service.
• Developing the Burrell Shop in Thetford, which aims to address increasing food poverty.
• Creating the Breckland Mental Health Community Partnership, which offers free mental health champion training to all Breckland-based community organisations and small businesses.

The next stage for Breckland Council is to present its entry to the judging panel in June. After the rigorous judging process the winners will be announced at the award ceremony in London on Wednesday 20 July.

Cllr Alison Webb, Breckland Council's Executive Member for Housing, Health and Communities, said: "Our Inspiring Communities programme is exciting and innovative and I'm so pleased our hard work in building these partnerships across our district has been recognised in this way. It is a considerable achievement even to be nominated - there were a record number of entries to the awards this year! I hope that we go on to win the award because I believe it would be well-deserved, but regardless, the difference that these partnerships is already making to our residents is something of which everyone involved can be very proud."

Maxine O'Mahony, Breckland Council's Chief Executive, added: "I also am incredibly proud that the partnership work that is at the heart of our Inspiring Communities programme has been recognised at this prestigious awards ceremony. Everyone here is aware of how tirelessly the officers involved have worked to make this a success and really make a difference to our residents when they need us, and this nomination is a wonderful acknowledgement of that."