Five Lamps are celebrating after winning the Outstanding Social Enterprise award at this year’s North East Charity Awards.
The Awards are its fifth year, staged by The Journal and The Gazette in association with associate sponsors Brewin Dolphin. More than 400 attended the night of celebration of the region’s voluntary sector at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead.
Lisa Pickard, Group Chief Executive of Five Lamps said “We set our sights high to re-energize the work we do in the Charity and make our voices known again in the North East to make sure we are a leading player in the voluntary and charity sector especially across Teesside. And boy have we gone and done it!
“Entering the awards gave us an opportunity to showcase what we do and raise awareness of and influence the issues that we are passionate about and trying to address including, holiday hunger, lack of opportunity for young people, social isolation and loneliness, poverty and financial exclusion and lack of support to set up a small business. This is a special award for us, and what makes an ‘outstanding social enterprise’ is our colleagues, Trustees and volunteers”
Pat Chambers, Chair of Five Lamps Board of Trustee’s accepted the award on behalf of the organisation and paid tribute to the staff and volunteers of the organisation, who work tireless to make a difference to the lives of their customers, make of whom are socially, economically and financially excluded.
Helen Dalby, senior editor at Journal and Gazette publishers Reach North East, said: “ChronicleLive, Teesside Live, The Journal and The Gazette are extremely proud to recognise the value and importance of the amazing charities and social enterprises in this part of the world, which is so widely known and loved for its generosity of spirit.
“The awards also recognise the important work of individual fundraisers and local businesses who support and help raise vital funds for our charities.
“We have been inundated with entries, with almost 250 received – and our judges commented on the quality once more being exceptionally high.
“These are tough awards to judge – all those nominated are exceptional organisations and individuals, who make a real difference with the work that they do.”
The Outstanding Social Enterprise award celebrates the excellent work of a local social enterprise or a trading arm within a charity that delivers significant social impact by trading to achieve their social purpose.
Five Lamps delivers an integrated range of social, economic and financial inclusion services within which they seek to transform lives, raise aspirations, remove barriers and offer choice. Five Lamps Trading Limited is a responsible lender offering fair and affordable personal loans as an alternative solution to high cost credit providers including pay day and door step lenders. Trading as Conduit and Conduit Scotland, they are much more than a loan provider. Loans enable people, many of whom are excluded from mainstream banking, to access credit and over time improve their credit score and history. Conduit’s affordable loans are also making a positive social impact by reducing outgoings and increasing people’s disposable income.
As Five Lamps Trading Limited is wholly owned by Five Lamps Charity, any profits made are gifted back to the Charity to support their brilliant charitable activities. The Charity provides services and support from young people through to older age; with our youth clubs and dedicated youth centre; employment and enterprise specialist, supporting local people into self-employment and home care services. We are passionate about tackling poverty and responding to social issues and run breakfast clubs during school holidays, worked with local supermarkets to support food redistribution, as well as providing facilities for people to meet, socialise and participate in health and wellbeing activities.
Five Lamps were also runners up at this year’s Tees Business Women Awards which took place on Thursday 24 October 2019.