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Lois Acton
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Lois has left her job as Executive Producer with ITV to establish a network of grassroots initiatives such as music, drama and art, all of which are youth-led.
So far she has worked with many organisations to fight knife and gun crime,not only in the UK but also worked across the world. Lois also brought her children from Jamaica to the UK, who now run their own initiatives.
One of the awards Lois has received for her efforts has been the Unltd award: http://www.unltd.org.uk/directory_detail.php?ID=2072.
Lois is currently working to set up a national charity to help unlock the creativity of young people through these intivatives and to assist with funding that doesn't have the amount of tie-ins and conditions that come with government and ESF funding.
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Gill Hicks
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The 37-year-old lost both legs in the 7 July London bombings and she completed the gruelling 30-day hike from Leeds to London on her prosthetic limbs.
As Gill and her WalkTalk team made their way through 22 towns and cities, over hills and down country lanes, they started thousands of conversations.
Their aim was to encourage people from different faiths and community groups to engage with each other in order to strive for a more peaceful and tolerant world.
As the tired but triumphant team entered Trafalgar Square on the final leg of their 270-mile journey, they were greeted with rapturous applause from supporters and well-wishers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7566789.stm |
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George Marshall
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George converted his ex council house into an amazing eco-house and created this website to inspire others: http://www.theyellowhouse.org.uk/
He is the Founder and Director of COIN, a Climate Change training provider.
George recently wrote a book on the subject of facing up to climate change called Carbon Detox, which has been met with excellent reviews.
He is an inspiring public speaker and manages to use humor to engage people with taking action on climate change, which is no easy task!
His one-man show has educated and entertained people up and down the country with great success.
George has been described by his nominator as "a great bloke" who loves to talk to everyone, and whose unique character enables him to do the work that he does.
George also keeps a blog: http://climatedenial.org/
http://www.carbondetox.org/html/show.html
http://coinet.org.uk/ |
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Kathy Mason
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Nominated by her daughter, Kathy Mason is a Health Champion in Barking & Dagenham.
In the current climate where food prices are rising and people are tightening their purse strings, Kathy has established a number of free programmes to encourage and help people to grow their own food.
She has also been involved in a number of local projects such as the Women's BMI Challenge 2008, which provides support for women all shapes and sizes across cultures to achieve healthier Body Mass Index, increase confidence, tackle obesity-related diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic heart disease and to increase life expectancy.
In 2007 Kathy was a winner of an Inspiration East Award for her efforts in spear-headeding initiatives in racial harmony, the environment and acting as a champion for overlooked members of society.
According to her daughter, if Kathy hears about an opportunity to help the community, she is "right there in a second".
http://womens-bmi.blogspot.com/
http://ecghli.womensbmi.googlepages.com/
http://ecghli.piczo.com |
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Shirley Metherell
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Shirley started up The Elizabeth Foundation with husband Dave 27 years ago after it took almost 2 years for their daughter Elizabeth to be diagnosed as deaf.
Finding this completely unacceptable, they became determined that the lack of support they themselves had endured would not continue for parents in the same situation.
They also believed that it is the right of every child including deaf children to be given the opportunity to learn to listen and talk so they are not excluded for the rest of their lives, struggling to communicate with the hearing world.
As a result of the endless, tireless work that Shirley and Dave have done (and still do), nearly all of the 12,000 babies that are born in Hampshire each year have a new born hearing test. The Elizabeth Foundation's two centres in Hampshire and Yorkshire are the only places in the UK where children and parents can learn together. Over 98% of all children who leave The Elizabeth Foundation at the end of their pre-school years move to mainstream education, with the ability to communicate with their new hearing friends.
Shirley and Dave are two people who can look back on their lives and know 100% that they have helped people and made a difference. |
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Martin Murphy
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Some time ago Martin Murphy was an addict and homeless. He completely turned his life around and now works tirelesssly with others to make similar such changes at St Barnabas House, a charity which helps homeless and vulnerable people change their lives and achieve sustainable independence, as the Life Skills Co-ordinator.
According to St Barnabas House's CEO, Pippa Bagnell, Martin has a wonderful rapport with the charity's homeless people. He listens carefully, guides gently and intuitively, creates a safe and caring environment, and is always available for coaching and advice.
Pippa has observed many people benefitting from Martin's compassionate and skillful coaching has been extremely impressed by his ability to respond spontaneously to new situations.
"He is a great team player and has a great sense of humour. Despite the fact we are working with people in crisis I hear laughter and witness comraderie on an impressive scale.
"I have huge admiration for Martin and would love to see his achievements ackowledged through forum3's Alternative Rich List." |
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Nicola Pendleton SROT
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Nicky Pendleton was one of three exceptional ladies who - back in the early 90's - founded a national charity called CANINE PARTNERS, which now has spread across the whole of Great Britain and provides highly trained dogs to help people in wheelchairs.
For the past 15 years Nicky has given her time and energy, including 3 years as chairman of the Charity, (and often working long into the night), to ensure that an increasing number of such assistance dogs are brought forward to change peoples' lives.
Nicky is a trained Occupational Therapist and she has taken a personal interest in assessing likely candidates, has interviewed them, has advised on the type of dog needed and personality issues, both canine and human!
According to Canine Partners CEO Terry Knott, "Nicky has enormous charisma and a bubbling but determined character and she inspires people to follow her. All that she has done is in addtion to working full time as a qualfied Occupational Therapist in Social Services.
"She is an exceptional person and fully deserving of public recognition."
As a result of Nicky's efforts there are now hundreds of people across the country who know her and several hundred more whose lives have been touched by her dedication and humanity. Even when persuaded to take a year's sabbatical sailing round the world, recently, Nicky kept in touch with the Charity, by radio and email.
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Monty Raphael
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After a great career in business, in 2000 (and aged 76) Monty Raphael founded The Dialogue Trust (TDT).
The Dialogue Trust works with prisoners, institutions, victims and the community to reduce re-offending, promote rehabilitation and heal society through the use of dialogue.
It convenes and facilitates dialogue groups in prison and the community by liaison with prison and probation departments.
The Dialogue Trust offers a viable and effective means of addressing the human problems, cost and social issues of crime and offender management.
Groups have been already established and working with great success in East Anglian and London Prisons.
www.thedialoguetrust.net |
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Hannah Snowden
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Wherever Hannah goes in the world, from Cambodia to Sierra Leone to Ethiopia, she seeks out underprivileged children (or they seem to find her!) and takes practical, lasting action to help disadvantaged children to help themselves.
During a two-year posting in Cambodia, Hannah has established an Arts Centre though which a whole community is finding ways to earn money for itself.
Hannah has an MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics for which she researched and continues to work on establishing creative education opportunities for vulnerable children. She has worked for UNICEF, World Education and Plan International.
Hannah is only in her twenties, but she has already made a lifetime's difference to hundreds of people in just a few years.
www.bsda-cambodia.org/activities.htm
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Hugo Villela
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Hugo Villela joined Shared Interest in 2006 to advise the financial co-operative on which fair trade businesses in the developing world may be in need of a lending facility.
He now works night and day (literally!) in his home country of Costa Rica to help producers out in the field to get their goods to market. This involves risk analysis and creating opportunities for partnership working as well as identifying farmers and handicraft makers who need financial support.
By 2007 alone, Hugo had already helped lend $6 million to businesses to these poor communities.
Going above and beyond the call of duty, Hugo often visits remote towns and villages to ensure that the most hard to reach areas have access to the fair trade market. Whilst looking for new customers with Shared Interest Hugo visits places that were impossible for people to visit in the eighties without taking a strong risk of losing their lives.
Ana Lopez, who works alongside Hugo in the Shared Interest Costa Rica office as administrative assistant says: “Hugo always thinks of the welfare of his producers. This is his reason for existence – understanding their needs.”
Hugo’s line manager from the Shared Interest UK
headquarters says: “”It is Hugo’s sheer dedication and passion that inspires us all. It is more than just a job for him; it is a way of life...his energy is boundless and his commitment unsurpassed.”
Hugo certainly lives, sleeps and breathes fair trade, and has even had two books published on associated issues, ‘Building Hopes’ and ‘Agro-ecological Alternatives’.
www.shared-interest.com |
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