Winning the Guardian Charity Award

In December 2016 TCC was delighted to win the Guardian Charity Awards.

Established in 1995, and with a car acting as its first office, the U.K.’s longest established community organising group has been training and working with adults and young people across North East Wales ever since, to create positive change on local and national issues.

TCC is an alliance of faith organisations, community groups and schools from across North East Wales. Member groups set TCC’s agenda by raising issues affecting the local community, and are then supported to run effective campaigns and work directly with decision makers.

Successes have included, amongst others, persuading Wrexham council to recycle instead of incinerate and working with them to agree sign up to the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, the installation of a defibrillator in a local secondary school, increasing police presence in areas seeing more anti-social behaviour, making Wales the world’s first Fairtrade nation and getting employers across Wales to pay the Living Wage instead of minimum wage. TCC has also run accountability meetings across North East Wales in which election candidates take part in the run up to general and National Assembly for Wales elections.

TCC Chair of Trustees, Jennie Hurd said, ‘We are all so thrilled that all those involved with TCC, past and present, have been recognised nationally for their hard work and many successes. The £3,000 that we have won, together with the package of support from the award sponsors, will help us to improve where we need to and we are looking forward to learning all we can’.

Kath Griffiths of member group St Giles Parish Church said, ‘When we worked on the incinerator issue, training and working with TCC meant I had more confidence to talk to people I didn’t know and to challenge decision makers when we needed to, and they introduced recycling instead, in the end. Being involved and getting change like that feels wonderful!’

TCC’s lead organiser Sam Rex-Edwards said, ‘Community organising is about people and organisations being stronger as part of a diverse group and those people achieving real change in communities working constructively and imaginatively. It’s about building power in communities and respectfully dismantling the idea that power is held by few’.

The Guardian Charity Awards judging panel included chief executives of several leading charitable organisations and over 700 applications were scored on being an innovative cause, learning from other charities, the evidence of impact, the potential of an award to boost growth, and the overall contribution to social welfare.