11/18/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/19/2024 03:47
The winners have been announced of the 2024 EmpowerEU Awards- the awards that celebrate EU citizens in the UK and inspiring young leaders who are building bridges and making a meaningful impact in their communities. These awards honour exceptional efforts across civil society to strengthen EU-UK relations.
Background to the Awards
Two years went into the design and conception of a new recognition scheme to celebrate the achievements of community and diaspora organisations representing and assisting EU citizens and their communities in the UK and promoting relations between the EU and the UK through local communities.
The Citizens Gathering of 2022 and 2023 included workshops to discuss the merits and characteristics of such an award scheme and the main takeaways from the workshops fed into establishing the outline for EmpowerEU awards. Thescheme to honour outstanding achievements that impact EU citizens, local communities and youth in the UK, and develop broader EU-UK people-to-people relations was launched on May 9th at the Delegation's Europe Day celebrations by EU Ambassador to the UK Pedro Serrano.
EUD
The categories that are recognised in the EmpowerEU Awards run as follows:
1. YOUTH CHAMPIONS
An award that forefronts youth-led work that fosters UK-EU cooperation or relations between young people in the UK and the EU (age 15-30) most notably work that is inspiring lasting change.
2. COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS
An award aimed at grassroots community groups, small charities, social enterprises and local initiatives (including local projects, collectives, mutual aid groups) that have addressed issues experienced by European communities on a local level or strengthened relationships between EU and UK citizens through local organising, peer to peer movements, art and direct action.
3. OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
An award that recognises one organisation's outstanding contribution towards creating a lasting and significant change for EU citizens living in the UK, or contributed to the development of EU-UK relations across communities.
The judging panel was made up by representatives of the EU Delegation, European Parliament Liaison Office, EU Member States, community organisations and youth organisations.
Special Mention - Community Endeavour: Settled
Settled has supported EU citizens in securing their status under the EU Settlement Scheme, offering multilingual advice and assistance across the UK since 2019.