Award categories
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE AWARDS ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS YEAR
Awards are open to North East local authorities and fire and rescue services, as well as their employees. Local authorities can enter in partnership with other local authorities or external partners. Please note that the actual awards will recognise local authorities, fire and rescue service and their employees only.
The following awards are open to North East local authorities and fire and rescue services, as well as their employees.
1. The Engaging with Young People Award
Entries should demonstrate how an individual or organisation has undertaken an initiative to engage with young people within their community. Detail the project and the steps taken in order to ensure participation and that young people's opinions have been acted upon. Highlight any subsequent benefits and any future plans for the project.
2. The Unsung Hero Award
Entries should demonstrate how an individual or organisation has made a significant difference within the local community and how the actions of this individual or organisation has improved the life or well-being of others. Detail any subsequent benefits and any future plans.
The following awards are open to North East local authorities and fire and rescue services.
3. The Reputation Award
Entries should demonstrate how an organisation has successfully managed its reputation and the steps taken in key areas to deliver improvements to its reputation with customers, stakeholders and communities. This category recognises the successful achievement of a positive impact combined with satisfaction levels. Detail tangible results and timescales. The entry should also detail how improvements have been communicated to citizens, communities and stakeholders.
4. The Value for Money Award
Entries should demonstrate how a particular project or initiative has been successfully executed against budget and delivered a clear outline of the results achieved. The project should demonstrate an innovative, efficient, perhaps entrepreneurial approach to achieving or adding value and to meeting objectives. The beneficiaries of the successful project might be local communities or an organisation as a whole.
5. The Green Award
Entries should demonstrate the success of a key project or initiative undertaken within a community to make an area cleaner, safer or greener, or to address the challenge of climate change. The project or initiative could vary from reducing carbon footprint to basic street cleaning. Outline the difference the initiative has made and highlight any resulting benefits.
6. The Crime and Community Safety Award
Entries should demonstrate how an organisation has worked either independently, in conjunction with the local community or through a partnership to successfully address a crime and community safety issue. Outline any local involvement and successful partnership initiatives and detail positive results or statistics.
7. The Public Service Delivery Award
Entries should demonstrate how organisations have redesigned their services around the customer and applied a renewed and enhanced customer-focused approach. Highlight any areas where improvements have been jointly created through dialogue with users or non-users.
8. The Place Shaping Award
Entries should demonstrate how organisations have led improvements in the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area and communities they serve. This could be through a strategic approach to an area as a whole or through the success of a specific project, initiative or regeneration task. Entries should seek to demonstrate how the organisation or project has delivered better outcomes for citizens and communities, and the positive impact on local pride, raising aspirations and sense of belonging.
9. The Partnership Working Award
Entries should demonstrate how an organisation has essentially broken new ground through a partnership with one or more organisations, resulting in positive outcomes, such as improved services, greater operational efficiency or value for money. The partnership could be focused on the delivery of a project, initiative or specific goal. Detail the core objectives, structure of the partnership, the responsibilities of those involved and how policy, strategy, resource deployment and/or management and delivery of services has changed as a result. Outline delivery, tangible results, timescales and any lasting benefits or influences on future working.
10. The Improvement Award
Entries should demonstrate how an organisation has significantly "made a difference" through the improvement of a key project or initiative for the benefit of the local community during the lifetime of the Improvement Partnership for North East Local Government (from July 2005). This category is designed to recognise improvement and the steps taken to achieve this. Detail the core objectives and the actions that resulted in a marked improvement. The improvement should relate to the impact on the local community and the performance of the organisation itself.