Three Rivers Housing Association have been selected as the national winner of the National Housing Federation's (NHF) 2011 What We Are Proud Of Awards for their project Pelaw View Community Group.
Three Rivers and the two Highly Commended finalists - Catalyst Housing Group and East Midlands Housing Association - collected their awards at the NHF's annual conference from Ann Widdecombe.
Now into their fourth year, the What We Are Proud Of Awards celebrate the outstanding work of housing associations across the country. There were almost 200 entries to this year's competition, the biggest yet.
The Pelaw View Community Group was set up in 2009 by a group of residents on Three Rivers' Sherburn Road Estate in Durham. The Group aimed to tackle antisocial behaviour which had blighted the Estate. It has achieved that and so much more since. A management committee was set up and the group recently became a registered charity.
The judges were particularly impressed with the motivation and commitment of the group and the resources given by Three Rivers.
Catalyst Housing Group were one of the Highly Commended finalists. Their youth engagement project Pathways 2 Progress is run by the Catalyst Gateway charitable trust and provides tailored support for 13-19 year olds in Kensington and Chelsea since 2004. The work helps to tackle gang culture by finding productive uses for young people's unstructured time.
The other Highly Commended finalists was East Midlands Housing Association, for its GAP (Gaining a Place) project, which makes a real difference to the lives of young teenage parents in Leicester with safe and secure flats.
