Press release

HERO wins Prime Minister's Big Society Award

HERO (Holistic Enterprise Realising Opportunities) - a project that inspires an enterprise culture amongst young people in Blackpool and beyond, is the latest winner of the Prime Minister's Big Society Award.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

HERO (Holistic Enterprise Realising Opportunities) - a project that inspires an enterprise culture amongst young people in Blackpool and beyond, is the latest winner of the Prime Minister’s Big Society Award.

The project provides young people with enterprise education, equipping them with business skills, financial capabilities and an entrepreneurial attitude so that they can become effective contributors to their communities. They work in schools through the curriculum and extra-circularly through special events and programmes.

The Prime Minister said:

The HERO Project is inspiring thousands of young people to become the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. To get our economy on the right track we need projects like this to succeed and raise aspirations through enterprise and innovation.

Congratulations to HERO for providing the next generation with the skills they need to transform our communities. It’s a great example of the Big Society at work and I hope it will inspire others to get involved and start-up local projects.

The HERO project founder Nicola Hall said:

We are very excited to receive this prestigious award, and relish the challenges ahead of delivering a sustainable project which was originally started with a public funding stream.  We are driven by the positive impact that our project has in developing skills, on the lives of the young people we work with.  We look forward to working with many more schools and colleges, and empowering more young people to realise the opportunities ahead of them as our project progresses into the future.

For more information on HERO visit: www.blackpoolhero.co.uk

More on the Big Society Awards

The Prime Minister recently launched a new weekly award that recognises the best examples of the Big Society in action taking place all around the country.

As well as celebrating the fantastic work already being carried out across the country, the Prime Minister hopes that the Big Society Awards will inspire many more people to get involved in their community.

The Prime Minister said:

There are some amazing projects and remarkable voluntary work going on in towns and cities up and down the country, by all kinds of organisations from large enterprises to tiny grassroots schemes and inspirational individuals.

These awards are a chance to pay tribute to those making a valuable contribution to their community, the real champions of the Big Society, but perhaps more importantly, I hope they will motivate many others to take action, get involved and drive change in their area.

Individuals, businesses, charities, community groups and other organisations are all eligible if they illustrate the Big Society in action.

These might be:

  • People or groups who are bringing their community together and helping to give people more power to take decisions and shape their area
  • People who are transforming our public services, staff setting up their own cooperatives, or new providers or frontline staff finding innovative ways to deliver better services to the public
  • Or people who are giving their time and money to help others, the unsung heroes changing lives in every neighbourhood of the country.

People can submit nominations via a nomination form on the website.  Nominees will then go through a selection process which will eventually involve a panel of previous winners and individuals from civil society organisations, Government and the private sector.

Award winners will receive a certificate from the Prime Minister and will be invited to a regular Big Society Award Winners Reception at Downing Street.

Read more: Nominate a Big Society Award winner

Published 28 January 2011