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28 / 05 / 24
Last week [23 May], the winners of Camden’s first ever Faith & Belief Awards were announced during a ceremony at Camden Town Hall.
Camden’s Interfaith Network, in partnership with The Faith & Belief Forum, held the borough’s first ever Faith & Belief Awards ceremony last night to shine a light on the vital work of local voluntary, community and faith organisations.
Launched for the first time this year, the awards celebrated community and faith groups and organisations that go above and beyond to support local communities.
Download the Camden Faith & Belief Awards event brochure by clicking here.
Faiths Forum for London won the category for ‘Building connected communities and neighbourhoods.’ Since 2023, Faiths Forum for London, a Camden based charity, have organised a series of interfaith iftars nationally and in London, bringing over 500 people together.
The winner of the ‘Tackling Poverty’ category was Lifeafterhummus, a community benefit society which provides essential support to families such as clothing, household items and other essentials. They also carry out community outreach sessions, cooking classes and waste prevention activities.
Hopscotch Women’s Centre won the award for ‘Welcoming and Supporting Refugees’. The Camden based organisation has helped settle over 1500 refugees from Afghanistan since 2021, train council staff on cultural understanding and helped people get into their own accommodation in the borough.
The category for ‘Inspiring Children and Young People’ was won by the King’s Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association who run the Youth and Sports Programme. The programme offers a huge range of activities to empower young people and create opportunities for young people to learn new skills, learn and get empowered reaching over 200 local young people so far.
Three people who have made a lasting contribution to Camden were also awarded ‘Outstanding individual’ awards. The winners were Stuart Diamond from Mitzvah Day a Jewish-led initiative that brings together people of all faiths to volunteer side by side. Matt Mahmood-Ogston founder of the Naz and Matt Foundation a local specialist charity providing a comprehensive range of trauma informed 1-2-1 and group support services to LGBTQI+ individuals, or their parents, from religious or culturally conservative backgrounds. Sharley Newitt the lead of the NW5 project which supports hundreds of local children in Kentish Town, and seeks to foster to cohesion through their work with families from over 20 different nationalities also won.
“It was an honour to host the borough’s first Faith & Belief Awards and celebrate the outstanding contributions of our faith communities in Camden. This evening has been a real inspiration, and we would like to thank you all for your work to make Camden a better place. The awards gave us the opportunity to shine a light on the organisations, projects and individuals who work tirelessly to support out local community and tackle a range of social issues. A huge congratulations to the winners and all those who were nominated.
Councillor Nadia Shah, Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities and Cohesion and co-chair of the Camden Interfaith Network
“Over the last 25 years, the Faith & Belief Forum has been connecting people from all backgrounds, faiths and beliefs and celebrating the power of faith and belief initiatives.We know that people who are inspired by their faiths and beliefs contribute so much to a local community, but that often this goes unsung and can be overlooked and underappreciated. These awards are an excellent opportunity to publicly acknowledge and thank these groups and individuals specifically in Camden, and shine a spotlight on their important work.
Sophie Mitchell, Programme Coordinator at the Faith & Belief Forum
Tackling poverty:
Welcoming and supporting refugees:
Inspiring children and young people:
Inspiring individuals:
16 / 01 / 25
09 / 01 / 25
