Congratulations to the highly deserving award winners and commendable nominees. Thanks to all who took part and made this fantastic event possible! Check out our article in The Yorkshire Evening Post – “Local Awards Celebrated the unsung heroes of Leeds”

Award winners of the Leeds Learning Disability Awards 2024

⭐️ Volunteer of Year Wineer:
Susan Clayden, Pyramid of Arts

Shortlisted nominee: Doreen Kaye – People in Action
Sponsored by Balfour Beatty

⭐️ Making a Difference Winner:
People Matters: My Body My Choice

Shortlisted nominee: Hamara – HALO
Sponsored by Hippo

⭐️ Forum Central Learning Disability Network Member of the Year Winner:
Purple Patch Arts

Shortlisted nominee: LEEP1 – Café Leep
Sponsored by Aspire CBS

⭐️ Outstanding Contribution Winner:
Sapphire Malcolm.

Shortlisted nominee: Andrew Rawnsley.

Take a look at the programme from the evening: Learning Disability Awards Programme (22 page pdf)

 

The event was part of Leeds Learning Disability Week, which saw many events take place across the city, including the Leeds Learning Disability Pride March through Leeds City Centre, organised by Connect in the North. The theme for 2024 was “Do you see me?” It was all about being seen, heard and valued – sending a positive message that has been created by people with learning disabilities to create a movement of change.

 

About the Learning Disability Awards 2024

The prestigious Forum Central Learning Disability Awards celebrate the unsung heroes of Leeds working in the Learning Disability Sector.

The awards were first hosted in 2013 as The Tenfold Awards. We are delighted to be relaunching them in 2024 as the ‘Forum Central – Learning Disability Awards’ – to celebrate the achievements of VCSE organisations in Leeds.

The Learning Disability Awards celebrate the amazing work done in Leeds to support and improve the lives of people with learning disabilities. The evening will recognise the people behind the VCSE organisations in Leeds that work with and empower people with a learning disability.

Event Details 

Date: Friday 21 June 2024

Time: 7:30 PM – 12 AM Midnight (19.30 – 23.59)

Venue: The Marriott Hotel, 4 Trevelyan Square, Boar Ln, Leeds LS1 6ET – The Thomas Ambler Suite

This event is a full evening celebration, including:

  • three course meal with wine on tables and a welcome drink
  • awards ceremony
  • entertainment

100 free tickets are allocated to local VCSE organisations and their volunteers, and additional tickets are priced at £45. A VCSE organisation is a Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Organisations or sometimes called ‘third sector’ organisations.

Dress code: Black tie – however, we do not want anyone to feel uncomfortable. Please wear your best clothes that you feel good in.

Food and drink: A three course meal and welcome drink is included in the ticket price. Additionally, there will be four bottles of wine included on each table. There is also a bar at the venue serving drinks which can be purchased separately.

Dietary requirements: Please submit any requirements at the time of booking using the designated field, this includes vegan, vegetarian and any allergies the venue should be aware of.

Accessibility: Please let us know if you have any access requirements at the time of booking and we will do our very best to accommodate. The Marriott Hotel is a wheelchair accessible venue.

Carers, assistants and support staff are welcome to attend, although they will not be provided with a meal unless they have their own ticket (paid for or allocated free).

The Award Nominations

Nominations and voting for the winners of the 2024 awards happened in the run up to the evening.

The following is a list of Award categories and the organisations and volunteers who have been shortlisted from the nominations:

  • Volunteer of the Year: Doreen Kaye – People in Action, Sue Clayden – Pyramid of Arts
  • Making a Difference (project): Hamara – HALO, People Matters – My Body, My Choice
  • Forum Central Learning Disability Member of the Year: Purple Patch Arts, LEEP1 – Café Leep
  • Outstanding Contribution Award – Sapphire Malcolm, Andrew Rawnsley

Please read the Forum Central – Learning Disability Awards 2024 Nominees document to find out why these organisations and volunteers have been nominated.

Event promotion

We appreciate all support in promoting this event. Thanks to the following local news outlets for featuring us:

Here are assets you can download and share to support promotion:

FC Learning Disability Awards 2024 poster containing some of the info from the webpage

Event Sponsorship

This event is open to sponsorship, if you would like to become a sponsor of this event, please contact [email protected].

Forum Central is organising this event on behalf of our members. It would not be possible without generous donations from our partners.

A comprehensive sponsorship pack is available, to receive a copy and find out more about the options and benefits around sponsorship please contact [email protected].

Huge thanks to our sponsors:

  • Hippo
    Hippo are leading the way in Leeds when it comes to digital. They are a full-service digital consultancy working across sectors. “At Hippo we build the right thing right.”
    They have chosen to sponsor the ‘Making a Difference Award’ which recognises a project which has had a positive impact on the lives of people with learning disabilities, in relation to addressing a specific health inequality.
  • Aspire
    Aspire CBS are the largest organisation in Leeds delivering care and support services to adults with a learning disability. They run a wide range of activities and services for people in Leeds – with a wide range of additional needs including physical disabilities, complex needs, sensory impairments and autistic spectrum disorders.
  • Balfour Beatty
    Balfour Beatty are a large national construction and infrastructure company undertaking big projects in Leeds. We are delighted that they are sponsoring our ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award.

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