THE winners of the 2017 Best Community Project award are urging people to send in their nominations for this year’s York Community Pride Awards.

Chill in the Community cafe in Acomb was handed the prize for developing a neighbourhood hub to support residents from all backgrounds.

Mary Passeri, one of the directors at the organisation, said winning the award has given the cafe a boost in the community.

She said: “It’s made an amazing difference, you wouldn’t believe it. People are more ready to support us.

“It does sound nice to say we are award-winning. And it’s really helped because more people feel they can come in and offer their time, knowing that it’s going to the right place. That trust has been the nicest thing for us as a community group.

“We were so shocked when we won. We were really rooting for the kids from Team Lifestyle Cafe, who were also finalists, because we thought their project was brilliant.”

Mary added that the team made friends with other organisations and volunteers through the awards and said Team Lifestyle Cafe even helped Chill in the Community decorate the site before their relaunch in January.

She said: “In actual fact the award has been really handy - it has helped us establish ourselves as a group which is serious about what we are doing.

“People should absolutely nominate individuals and groups that they want to support.

“Most of these groups are run by volunteers giving their free time up for something they care about. They don’t expect a thank you but being nominating is a nice way to recognise them. I would absolutely recommend people send in nominations.”