The Lorna Young Foundation has won the Foundation for Social Improvement’s award ‘Small Charity Big Impact’ for Farmers' Voice Radio. It has been amazing to get this recognition for the work of Farmers' Voice Radio and the impact of our partners across Africa.
The prize was to get a film made to demonstrate the impact of our work. So, we worked with a very kind and patient filmmaker called Dale to make the Farmers' Voice Radio film. We shot some of the footage during our visit to Ghana in May, and Dale helped piece it all together. We are delighted with the film he produced, which can be viewed below:
The award ceremony was in July, held at the Cazenove Capital office in the City of London. Hannah C had the honour of attending on behalf of the Farmers' Voice Radio team, and it was a wonderful and inspiring evening.
There were winners and runners-up for different categories; we won in the category for charities with an income under £50,000. We watched the films made by the other award winners, and it was very moving. There were two charities doing amazing work in Kenya and Rwanda, and there was a very moving film about the work of an organisation working with children with mental health issues. All the organisations included in the ceremony were incredible and their impact far-reaching and long-lasting. It was very humbling and inspiring to be included amongst this wonderful group of change-makers.
Here is the speech that Hannah gave:
“Winning this award has been fantastic! It has been amazing to get recognition for the hard work of our small team, and our wonderful partners across Africa. So, thank you FSI – for your tireless campaigning, support and encouragement for small charities.
Thank you too, to Dale the filmmaker who has made our LYF Farmers Voice Radio film – he has been so patient and generous with his time.
I work in a small, but mighty, team at the Lorna Young Foundation. We are home-based and are spread across the country – but my colleagues, Hannah Davis, Christina Longden and Cristina Talens are awesome. Our Board too – led by Chair, Ian Agnew. And, I must say thank you to our families too. They who put up with a great deal – particularly holding the fort while we travel!
We feel very proud to have won this award, but the real heroes and heroines – the true impact-makers – are the farmers across Africa. They work tirelessly, in extremely difficult and often precarious conditions, to produce high quality produce and to provide for their families and communities.
So, I am accepting this award today, on behalf of all the farmers who contribute to and listen to Farmers' Voice Radio programmes. Together we are lifting the voices of farmers and transforming the lives of hundreds of thousands of smallholders.”
Many thanks also to the sponsors of the FSI Awards- who made this award and the event possible. They are #PolicyBee and #CazenoveCapital