City folk recognised at glittering awards ceremony

The Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum featured on the show hosted by John Barrowman after beating hundreds of projects to earn the UK’s Best Health Project title.

Achieving Something Special, a creative space for adults with learning disabilities to showcase their talents, was also a finalist in the Best Arts Project category. The organisation currently works with 80 adults and provides education with a focus on music and creative arts.

The Londonderry folk mingled with a range of celebrities at the glittering awards ceremony, including singers Melanie C and Leona Lewis, and actors Colin Salmon and Tamzin Outhwaite.

Tony Doherty, general manager of Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum, said: “It is an absolute honour to win this award and a real boost for everyone involved to receive national recognition for their hard work and dedication.

“Lottery funding has been absolutely crucial to this project and the National Lottery Awards have given us a great opportunity to highlight our work. We have received fantastic support throughout the competition and I would especially like to thank everyone who has voted for us.”

Presenting Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum with the award were Eastenders actresses Rita Simons and Danielle Harold.

Rita said: “I’m delighted to present the Best Health Project award to Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum.

“The work they have done to boost the health and wellbeing of the people in their community is fantastic - particularly for older men who are often the hardest group to target with health programmes.

“They truly deserve national recognition for the work they do and they are a wonderful example of the great work being carried out across the UK with Lottery funding.”

Danielle added: “It’s been lovely meeting the people behind Lottery funded projects which are changing lives for the better across the UK. They carry out amazing work in our communities and it’s great that we can celebrate them with a glam national awards event.”

Denise White, Founder and Chairperson of Something Special added, “It means so much to everyone involved in the project to get national recognition for our work. We’re really grateful to our friends and supporters who have taken the time to vote for us. ”

John Barrowman said: “The National Lottery has been changing lives for 18 years, raising £30 million every week for large and small projects across the UK.

“The National Lottery Awards are a fantastic way of celebrating the enormous amount of hard work that goes into making these projects a success.

“All the finalists make a real difference to people and communities every day with their Lottery funding. National Lottery players should be proud of the life-changing impact that their money has.”

For more information on the awards and the winners across all seven categories go to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk