THE Buddy Up project was crowned as last year’s deserved winner of the Contribution to the Community award.

And now we want you to send in your nominations for this year’s Inspiration Awards which take place at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in November.

If you know a person or an initiative that has made an outstanding contribution to the people of Warrington then let us know.

Buddy Up is a befriending project, based at Warrington Youth Club in Great Sankey, which supports children and young people aged between seven and 18 with disabilities who are at risk of becoming socially isolated.

Running all year round, each young person who is referred to Buddy Up is supported by a volunteer ‘buddy’ within a social setting, allowing the young person to interact with their friends and gain greater social and independence skills.

Young people and children attending the Buddy Up project will improve their social skills and ideally forge a friendship group.

They are encouraged to develop their independence and to ultimately access social groups without the support of their buddy and develop a degree of confidence and independence.

The ultimate aim is to develop their confidence so that they feel comfortable in participating in activities, without the support of parents and carers.

Nuvvy Sibia is a Buddy Up coordinator at Warrington Youth Club.

Nuvvy, 46, said: “It was very humbling to receive the award.

“What makes the scheme so workable is all of the support from the volunteers. They build the children’s confidence and self-esteem to help them become grounded within any social setting.

“We are indebted to all those people who help us.”

Volunteers also benefit by learning new skills and achieve a great deal of satisfaction by seeing the impact their skills can have on a young person.