YWCA Yorkshire – Highly Commended
YWCA Yorkshire were shortlisted for the much-coveted Charity of The Year Award and were Highly Commended at the Barnsley and Rotherham Business Awards 2023.
YWCA Yorkshire provide housing, tenancy support, and wrap-around services to help young women, children and families. Through the charity, specialist teams support people who often don't have the security or comfort of family to help them build a home, access training and education, or to raise children.
This year, YWCA Yorkshire has supported 390 people in their own homes, in the community, and through three housing projects in Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster.
In Rotherham, YWCA Yorkshire has two projects, Fleming Gardens and the Young Parents Tenancy Support (YPTS) service. Fleming Gardens supports 20 young women, children and families in purpose-built houses and in houses locally. The YPTS service supports 27 families in the community throughout Rotherham in their own tenancy.
L - R: Kelly Wooller - YWCA Charity Board Trustee, Diane Offers - YWCA HR Manager, Tracy Gollins - YWCA CEO, Joanne Hockney - YWCA Rotherham Project Manager.
L - R: Diane Offers - YWCA HR Manager and Tracy Gollins - YWCA CEO
FareShare, a charity tackling hunger and fighting food waste, were announced as the Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber’s Charity of the Year at an awards ceremony on Friday 3 November. In total, five charities were shortlisted, one winner selected, and two charities were Highly Commended; YWCA Yorkshire and BIADS – a Barnsley charity providing support for people living with dementia.
The special awards ceremony was held at Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham. The event, organised by Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, saw hundreds of people gather to honour the businesses, people, charities and not-for-profit organisations doing great things in South Yorkshire.
As well as celebrating the local business community, this annual event brought five shortlisted charities together to shine light on their activity and impact. The Charity of the Year Award has been sponsored by the University of Sheffield.
YWCA Yorkshire, Chief Executive, Tracy Gollins, said: “We’re so proud to have been shortlisted and to be Highly Commended. The young women, children and families that we support are some of the most vulnerable people in our society and they are also some of the most resilient. They deserve to have opportunities to build better futures for themselves and their children and we strive to support them to do that.
“Demand for what we do is greater than ever because our communities are disproportionally affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Access to affordable childcare has been highlighted as a major barrier to parents attending critical training and services and we thank the Chamber and our local business community for helping us to shine a light on this important issue through these awards.
“We congratulate FareShare for their achievements and thank them for the amazing work they are doing to tackle food inequalities here in South Yorkshire. On behalf of all our families, we’d like to thank Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce and the University of Sheffield for supporting our local charity sector.”
Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce has 1100 active Chamber members employing more than 100,000 people in the region. On a mission to help give local businesses and organisations a voice, they host the Business Awards Ceremony each year to reward excellence, celebrate success and raise profile.
In good company, YWCA Yorkshire were competing for ‘Charity of the Year’ against four other outstanding local charities; Barnsley FC Community Trust, BIADS, FareShare Yorkshire and Rotherham United Community Trust.
YWCA Yorkshire, Charity Board Trustee, Kelly Wooller, said: “The work that YWCA Yorkshire do is so important for so many people and it is wonderful to be recognised in this way. We're also delighted to have shared a platform with so many other incredible organisations doing amazing things in South Yorkshire, and we’d like to congratulate FareShare for their awards and celebrate runners up Barnsley FC Community Trust, BIADS, Yorkshire and Rotherham United Community Trust.”
You can follow YWCA Yorkshire and join the conversation and movement to create a better future for women, children and families in South Yorkshire on LinkedIn, X and Facebook. You can help support YWCA Yorkshire to deliver additional therapeutic interventions to families in Rotherham, Sheffield and Doncaster by making a donation directly through Just Giving. And if you are a local business or community champion, please get in touch with rowan.hall@ywcayorkshire.org.uk to discuss fundraising and partnership opportunities.