1V GROUP OF THE YEAR 2026
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The 1V Group of the Year should be an example of how a community-based organisation should be and how to successfully interact with members of all communities to make a tangible difference.
The 1V Group of the Year should demonstrate engagement, achievement, and a level of cohesion within their work to create a more integrated Blackburn. They should have a diverse approach that can be accessed by all backgrounds. Furthermore, they should have a track record of working in partnership with communities in Blackburn, as well as uplifting marginalized communities.
The 1V Group of the Year will have shown excellence in their approach towards creating a positive community and town. They should share sustainable and long-term goals with the community of Blackburn and work collaboratively to make a positive impact on peoples lives.
While the award aims to acknowledge the work of candidates in the previous 12 months, it can also be recognition of a continued level of service to the communities.
This category is not limited to non-profit organisations, but those outside of the non-profit sector must clearly demonstrate value to the local community.
HERE ARE YOUR FINALISTS
BAGS for Strife
BAGS for Strife is a postvention charity founded and led entirely by volunteers who have been bereaved by suicide. Born from lived experience, the organisation was created in response to the urgent lack of accessible, compassionate support available to families and friends in the immediate aftermath of a suicide loss.
Through conversations with others affected, the founders identified four emotions that consistently shape suicide bereavement: Blame, Anger, Guilt, and Sadness. These insights underpin the charity’s approach, ensuring support is both practical and emotionally informed. At the heart of BAGS for Strife’s work are its carefully curated support bags and the Little Book of Help, designed by those with lived experience to provide guidance, reassurance, and a sense that recipients are not alone during traumatic grief.
To date, over 4,400 support bags have been distributed nationally via police forces, GP practices, hospitals, prisons, universities, coroners’ offices, and local charities, with additional requests made directly by families. Strong partnerships with police forces ensure support reaches people at their most vulnerable moments, when other information can feel overwhelming or unheard.
Funded entirely through donations and fundraising, BAGS for Strife also raises awareness through community outreach, becoming a vital, health-focused lifeline for those navigating the complex impacts of suicide bereavement.
Idle
Women
Idle Women is an arts, environment, and social-justice collaboration founded by artists in 2015. Their work reaches beyond the horizon, co-creating transformative spaces with women—spaces that cannot be cut, closed, or taken away. Idle Women create artworks that are spaces: a boat, a garden, a rave, a website. Each is rooted in social-justice collaboration and designed to be inhabited, animated, and owned by women for generations.
Their first major endeavour was Narrowboat Selina Cooper, conceived and built with women living in a specialist domestic-violence refuge. Over two years, the boat toured the Leeds–Liverpool Canal, sparking friendships and forming the foundations of what is now the vibrant Idle Women community.
In 2018, they crowdfunded to purchase a strip of canalside land in Nelson, which women transformed by hand into the UK’s first and only Physic Garden for Women—a medicinal artwork dedicated to women’s health and built to last a century. It now provides safe, permanent access to nature, knowledge, and beauty.
Through a long-standing partnership with Humraaz Blackburn, Idle Women offer year-round creative programmes, paid traineeships, health support, social-enterprise opportunities, trips, residentials, and specialist outreach for women in crisis.
Their Fire Chai group meets weekly at a large allotment where women grow food, tend the land, cook on an open fire, and build friendships, confidence, and adventure. Together, they make lasting change—creating a strong, alternative space where women can be themselves and find the courage to learn to drive, start a business, seek awe, create beauty, and celebrate each other.
Idle Women’s work is hopeful and unapologetically honest. Through co-creation, they aim for social change rooted in women’s strengths, recognising that transformation is a daily process—complex, beautiful, and always possible.
Shelter
Lancashire
Shelter Lancashire is dedicated to defending everyone’s right to a safe, secure, and affordable home. Based in Blackburn and working across the county, the team supports individuals and families facing homelessness, housing insecurity, and the wider challenges that affect their ability to live well. Through expert advice, advocacy, and practical solutions, they help people navigate complex housing systems, assert their rights, and secure sustainable accommodation.
A defining strength of Shelter Lancashire is its commitment to lived experience. Their Lived Experience programme ensures that people who have faced homelessness are not only heard but actively involved in shaping services, influencing decision-making, and co-designing solutions that reflect real needs. This approach keeps their work grounded, human, and deeply impactful.
Their frontline support is matched by strong collaboration with local authorities, community organisations, and national partners to challenge systemic barriers and campaign for fairer housing policies.
For many, Shelter Lancashire has been life-changing. “A few years ago, I was homeless and struggling. Shelter helped me rebuild my life with kindness and without judgement. Thanks to them, I’m now back on my feet. They are lifesavers.”
Driven by compassion, expertise, and community action, Shelter Lancashire continues to fight for housing justice for all.
Z's Defence Academy
Founded over seven years ago by Zaynab “Zee” Jogi, Z’s Defence Academy is a pioneering UK charity dedicated to empowering women, young people, and underserved communities through self-defence, fitness, outdoor adventure, education, and volunteering. Built on the ethos of Engage, Educate, Empower, the Academy helps participants aged 10–70+ develop confidence, resilience, leadership, and personal growth, creating pathways to education, employment, and community involvement.
The Academy delivers ten specialist programmes, including Stop Think Self-Defence, Z Adventure, Youth Can, Boost Fitness, and Transform4Life, each designed to break down cultural, social, and personal barriers to participation. Over the years, Z’s Defence Academy has supported thousands of individuals, promoting physical wellbeing, emotional resilience, and positive lifestyle change.
The charity’s groundbreaking work has been widely recognised in local and national media, including the BBC, ITV, Lancashire Telegraph, and Manchester Evening News, and has earned multiple awards, including Charity of the Year and Community Initiative of the Year.
Under Zee’s leadership, a Guinness World Record-holding adventurer, fitness instructor, and self-defence expert, Z’s Defence Academy has become a trusted and influential force for social change. By inspiring confidence, building skills, and fostering inclusion, the charity exemplifies courage, innovation, and lasting impact, making it a deserving finalist for One Voice Group of the Year.
1V GROUP OF THE YEAR 2024
WINNER Tuyoorul Jannah, Birds of Paradise
Tuyoorul Jannah, Birds of Paradise, received the 1V Group of the Year 2024, sponsored by Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone.
Tuyooral Jannah is the first dedicated madrasah for children and adults with SEND in the UK. They support the varying needs of individuals with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) using a holistic approach. Tuyoorul Jannah raise awareness of SEND and its significance within our communities on both a national and international scale. The organisation marked the end of 2023 with the completion of their renovation project at their new site on Shear Bank Road, Blackburn.
Maulana Zubair Mangera, Founding Partner at Tuyoorul Jannah said, “All of us at Tuyoorul Jannah are humbled and honoured to have received this award. We appreciate the support of the wider community in recognising the dedication and efforts of all our staff, students, parents, and carers in making Tuyoorul Jannah the success it is.”
THE FINALISTS
Madrasah Tuyoorul Jannah (Birds of Paradise)
Tuyooral Jannah are the first dedicated madrasah for children and adults with SEND in the UK. They support the varying needs, including religious and cultural, of individuals with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) using a holistic approach. They aim to provide every individual, with the opportunity and enabling environment to grow and flourish to achieve their full potential. They believe that the best outcomes for children and young people with special educational and additional needs are secured by working together in partnership with other organisations. Tuyooral Jannah have supported a number of organisations to establish SEND madrasah facilities in their local areas, as well as raising the profile of SEND awareness and its significance within our communities on both a national and international scale. They have established partnerships with a number of key stakeholders including Blackburn with Darwen Council & Lancashire County Council through their partnership organisation ‘The Connect Hub’ who work with asylum seekers and refugees. Tuyoorul Jannah marked the end of 2023 with the completion of their renovation project at their new site on Shear Bank Road, Blackburn.
National Festival of Making
The National Festival of Making is a unique celebration of UK Making, from the kitchen table to the factory floor. Presenting a programme of work that combines art, manufacturing, making and communities, they commission international and national artists to create world class works, a year round programme and a participatory free family festival for all to enjoy. In 2023 the festival weekend returned to Blackburn with over 70 exhibitions, performances, workshops, talks and markets across 22 locations in the town centre. Despite numerous challenges, the event in 2023 was a spectacular success thanks to the volunteers and artists who took part. It is the largest outdoor event in the town and brings people in from outside of the town. NFOM also deliver projects and cultural experiences to local, regional and national audiences. They have been awarded Arts Council England NPO status, enabling them to bring investment to Blackburn and to deliver work with communities both over the festival weekend and year-round, as well as develop the organisation into a sustainable and nationally recognised culture organisation embedded in the town.
Shin Gi Ruh Muay Thai Camp
Shin Gi Ruh have been working in the community for over two decades. They focus on building a diverse community and offer equal opportunities to ethnic minorities. Many young people are provided with development opportunities to coach and volunteer for the club in the future. Volunteers deliver workshops across the borough to various groups, local sports teams, mosques and scout groups. All profits from Shin Gi Ruh are sent to run an Orphanage in Thailand along with supporting Rohingya Refugee camps in Bangladesh demonstrating their commitment to a greater cause. Shin Gi Ruh are an inclusive and diverse club helping to build community cohesion. The group has a strong focus on health and wellbeing. The club has helped many individuals with their self-esteem and confidence. Shin Gi Ruh play a prominent role in empowering females to make them feel capable of anything they put their mind to. In more recent events Shin Gi Ruh took over 30 students to compete in multiple Interclubs showcasing the skills and confidence that each child and adult had gained whilst being a part of the club.
What About Us? Blackburn Rovers Community Trust
What About Us? is a young female led group comprising of 15-19 year olds who raise awareness of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). The project aims to educate and empower females going through any form of violence, spot signs of exploitation and danger, and feel safe. The young people have facilitated 26 bi-weekly workshops. What About Us is run by Blackburn Rovers Community Trust. They have challenged local services, written to the local authority and members of our local councils supporting and advising other youth/female led groups in the area. They have given out 1000 panic alarms and supported schools, colleges and workplaces in promoting the prevention of VAWG. Most recently the group has worked with Lancashire constabulary conducting surveys asking people how they feel in Blackburn with Darwen and what support they required to feel safer from the police. As a result of their findings the group have given out approximately 1000 panic alarms. The Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary Chris Rowley heard about the work of the group and commended them for their efforts. They are now working on potential collaborative projects.
The 1V Group of the Year should be an example of how a community-based organisation should be and how to successfully interact with members of all communities to make a tangible difference.
The 1V Group of the Year must demonstrate engagement, achievement and a level of cohesion within their work to create a more integrated Blackburn. Furthermore, they must have a track record of working in partnership with communities in Blackburn, as well as uplifting marginalized communities.
The 1V Group of the Year will have shown excellence in their approach towards creating a positive community and town.
While the award aims to acknowledge the work of candidates in the previous 12 months, it can also be recognition of a continued level of service to the communities.
WINNER 2023
Critical Local Foodbank Wins 1V Group Award
A local organisation that is deemed a lifeline for many individuals in the community won the 1V group of the Year Award at the showstopping 1V Awards Dinner last week held at King George’s Hall in Blackburn.
Blackburn Foodbank received the trophy from Chief Executive Officer, Hannah Allen at Blackburn and Darwen Youth Zone.
Recipients of the 1V Group of the Year award should be an example of how a community-based organisation should be and how to successfully interact with members of all communities to make a tangible difference.
Everyday people in Blackburn and Darwen go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. This year so far, Blackburn Foodbank have provided over 157,500 meals.
Blackburn Foodbank provides a minimum of three days’ emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in our local community.
Volunteers are vital in helping in the foodbank warehouse sorting food donations, as well as at the foodbank centre where they chat with clients, pack food parcels, and prepare refreshments.
They also help signpost clients on to other agencies who can help with their specific problems, in the hope of helping them find their way out of their current emergency.
On receiving the award Aamirah Ayub of Blackburn Foodbank said:“Thank you on behalf of the amazing team of volunteers, staff, and trustees. Thank you to everyone who supports Blackburn Foodbank with donations and otherwise. We are delighted to receive the 1V Group of the Year award and really appreciate the recognition for our efforts.”
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Benefit Mankind were winners in 2021. Dr Abdussamad Mulla
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