Breaking Barriers Essex wins High Sheriff’s Shield Award
We are delighted to announce that Ormiston Families has won the High Sheriff’s Shield Award at the prestigious High Sheriff’s Awards! Our Breaking Barriers Essex team was awarded the Shield in recognition of ‘their work helping children across Essex to deal with having a parent or carer in prison.’
In total 23 charities tackling crime, community safety and anti-social behaviour received grants from the High Sheriff’s Fund which is managed by the independent charitable trust Essex Community Foundation (ECF). Alongside these grants, special awards were granted to five organisations; The Gifted Organisation, Justice and Care, Red Balloon Family Foundation, St Giles Trust, and Ormiston Families.
The prestigious High Sheriff Awards were announced on Wednesday, March 3, in a live programme broadcast by BBC Essex. The two-hour radio show was hosted by Steve Scruton and Ian Wyatt. High Sheriff of Essex Julie Fosh, Nick Alston, Chair of ECF and B J Harrington, Chief Constable of Essex, joined them on air to talk to grant recipients and award winners.
For Julie Fosh, the awards were the culmination of her successful year of office at a time like no other in the long history of High Sheriffs of Essex.
She said: “It was so important that this annual thank you to the voluntary sector did not fall to the wayside in the wake of COVID-19. The idea to go live on the radio was brilliant, as everyone could still hear about the vital work groups are doing across the county and it was an opportunity for us to come together, over the airwaves, to celebrate something positive.”
Alison Herron Service Manager at Ormiston Families says: “We are delighted to accept this award from the High Sheriff. It is wonderful that Breaking Barriers Essex has been recognised across the county in this way. Children who have been affected by parental imprisonment can often be overlooked, this award will make a huge difference to the children we support by highlighting their needs. The Breaking Barriers Essex team are very proud to be receiving the High Sheriff’s Shield this year.
“We are naturally delighted to receive such a prestigious and coveted award. It’s a culmination of a lot of hard work, dedication and great team work from all of us at Breaking Barriers Essex and we are thrilled that this has been recognised at such a high profile award ceremony. This will make a huge difference to us and most importantly the children we support at such a difficult time in there lives.”
If you would like to find out more about the Breaking Barriers service please visit our webpage.