The London Peace Awards

Community workers were rewarded for their contributions at the London Peace Awards held recently.

The GLA supported event attended by London Mayor Boris Johnson aims to acknowledge the contributions of people who have worked to promote peace and cohesion in London.

The event which is now in its tenth year is held across London boroughs. It was set up by the Peace Alliance to organise programmes that increase community cohesion, reduce crime and raise awareness of community safety.

The Londoner’s Peace Award, given to the individual who has promoted peace in their neighbourhood, was presented by Mayor Johnson to Patrick Regan, founder of the organisation XLP which seeks to engage with politicians, police, and gang members, to fight poverty and to support youth provision and education.

The Community Safety Award went to Decima Francis, who founded the From Boyhood to Manhood Day Support Programme – a project focusing on youth provision, particularly for young people who are in danger of being excluded from school and from wider society. Established in 1996, the project has so far touched the lives of 20,000 young people.

Michael Kosmas received the Diversity Award for his work in founding the NXG project which aims to mentor young people from a variety of backgrounds and to help them to develop their creative skills in a safe environment.

Founder of the Redbridge Neighbourhood Watch Association Wilson Chowdhry received the Bridge Builders Award in recognition for the work that has since been carried out. The RNWA is an effective communicator between communities, ASBO and Police Teams in Redbridge.

Darwin Bernadrdo founder of NUTMEG received the Young Persons Award. NUTMEG is an organisation which supports young people in recognising their own potential through events which engage and bring young people together encouraging them to support each other in developing new ideas.

The Community Engagement Award went to Michael Smith. Smith started the Word for Weapons campaign which providing bins where people can hand in offensive weapons. So far nearly 1000 weapons have been handed in.

Black Youth Achievement CIC was founded in 2008 and aims to celebrate the achievements of young Black people. The first Black Youth Achievement awards were held in November 2009 and were organised by the founder Kay Oldroyd. Oldroyd received the Volunteer Award for her work.

The Developing Real Examples and Mentors Award (DREAM) was awarded to Nilesh Badiani a trustee of Sai School Harrow who set up a weekend institution for young people from BAME backgrounds which promotes human values.

By Richard  Sudan