The first annual BrentQ Awards Ceremony sponsored by the Ardmore Group – recognising excellence in homelessness service provision in the London Borough of Brent – took place this week at the Crown Moran Hotel in Cricklewood and was attended by homeless people, homelessness support agencies, representatives from local and national Government and local business.

The BrentQ Awards, the brainchild of Danny Maher from CHC, received more than 160 nominations across five categories. The winners were:

• Housing Advice and Support – Livingstone House (English Churches Housing Group) sponsored by Communities and Local Government
• Drug Support Services – Addaction Brent sponsored by William McGowan (Lettings) Ltd. Brent
• Training and Employability – BHUG sponsored by Communities and Local Government
• Welfare and Benefits Advice – DWP Brent sponsored by Rex Features
• Best Overall Service – Cricklewood Homeless Concern sponsored by the Ardmore Group.

Director of CHC, Danny Maher said, “It was a fantastic evening. The BrentQ Awards represent an excellent opportunity not only for homeless people to have a real say in how support services are designed and delivered, but also to instil competition amongst organisations to raise the bar in terms of quality of services and customer care. I’d like to thank everyone involved for making the idea a reality and challenge other boroughs to do the same.”

Deeq Omar, a hostel resident in Brent, said, “The BrentQ awards are a great idea. It is important that staff know we appreciate all their hard work to help us through the system.”

The event was generously sponsored by Ardmore Group, with support from The Department of Communities and Local Government, William McGowan (Lettings) Ltd, Theme Traders Ltd, Rex Features and Homeless Link.

ENDS

Editor’s Notes:

CHC is a comprehensive homeless organisation, providing a wide range of services to enable vulnerable people to live independently within the community. CHC offers housing advice, medical and counselling services, and a wide range of skills and employability training, catered to meet the needs of their Customers as individuals. They recognise the capacity of customers to help themselves and aim to support Customers by giving them the help and guidance that they need in a way that helps them to build their own capacity to achieve their ambitions.

CHC 60 Ashford Road London NW2 6TU 02082088590 www.chc.org.uk