A celebratory dinner, to be attended by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Michael Wilkes, is to be held at Aston Villa Football Club on Friday 26 March to announce individual and group winners of the Aston Community Oscars.  Aston Pride New Deal for Communities launched the new award scheme earlier this year to celebrate and promote its regenerative work over the last six years in one of the most deprived parts of Birmingham.

The prestigious event will showcase to local people, government agencies and regeneration partners the achievements, impact, and success of flagship NDC funded projects, the volunteering work of individuals, and the work of the Aston Pride Delivery Partnership.  The evening’s comperes will be the BBC’s Midlands’ Today weather presenter, Genelle Aldred and Birmingham’s Big City Radio presenter Muff Murfin.  The programme of entertainment will be provided via The Drum and other local artistes, including Young, Gifted & Brum.

Aston Pride’s Independent Chairman, Simon Topman, said:
“The Community Oscars recognise the tremendous input provided by local people, partners, stakeholders and others in shaping and supporting the programme of regeneration interventions funded or facilitated by Aston Pride in recent years.  I am delighted that the best projects and personal achievements will be acknowledged and rewarded in this very public way.”

“The Community Oscars initiative has been spearheaded by Aston Pride’s Community Leadership Theme of which community interaction, capacity building, governance and leadership are the main cross cutting outcomes, underpinned by much of its work.  One key objective of the Oscars is to promote the work of volunteers from across the Aston Pride catchment area and to demonstrate the positive impact of volunteering on people’s lives.  The Oscars will also illustrate the enormously beneficial effects on people from different backgrounds, ages and cultures working together and finding common purpose through shared activities”.

The award nomination categories match the six main project themes administered by Aston Pride:
· Community Leadership
· Community Safety
· Education
· Employment & Business
· Health
· Housing & Environment

The short-listed nominations were selected by an independent panel of people familiar with the area and the work of Aston Pride New Deal for Communities.