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Liveable City Awards 2006

The Liveable City Awards were established in 2001by the City of London and are led in partnership with 15 organisations, including livery companies, trade bodies, voluntary sector organisations and businesses. The 2006 awards, presented by John Gummer MP and world-renowned ecologist Professor Norman Myers at the Mansion House on 22 February, recognise and reward outstanding achievement across the three pillars of sustainable development: the environment, social issues and the economy.

Bridge House Trust works in partnership with the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers to run the award category 'Access to Goods and Services for Disadvantaged Londoners'. The Pattenmakers sponsor the award and two members of the Trust's Grants Committee sit with them on the panel to select the category winner and runner-up.

This year's category winner is Quaker Social Action (www.quakersocialaction.com) whose HomeStore project was established in 1988 and is a furniture recycling project that provides quality second hand furniture for those on benefits living in east London, enabling them to furnish their homes without sinking in to debt. HomeStore collect items free of charge and take them back to their depot for refurbishment by work-experience volunteers who then deliver the chosen items for free, meaning that low-income households can choose good quality items and white goods. HomeStore hits all three targets for true sustainability, meaning the judges thought them a worthy winner of this year's Access award.

Runner up this year is U Can Do I.T. (www.ucandoit.org.uk), launched in 1998 with the sole aim of training blind, deaf and disabled people how to use computers and the internet. When students need personal access to computers, U Can Do I.T. sources recycled equipment and carries out one-to-one training in the student's home or place of work. By giving disabled people a sustainable way to bridge the 'Digital Divide', whilst addressing the problem of electronic waste, the judges felt that U Can Do I.T. demonstrate true sustainable credentials.

Congratulations to both of these organisations and to all the other entrants, which were of a very high quality indeed.