A CORNISH charity that supports young parents in Launceston has won a prestigious national award.

WILD Young Parents Project, who run a class in Launceston on Mondays as well as in other towns across the Duchy throughout the week, beat more than 350 organisations from all over the UK to be one of the eight winners of the 2018 GSK IMPACT Awards, a national award that recognises charities that are doing excellent work to improve people’s health and wellbeing. The charity will receive £30,000 in funding as part of its prize, as well as expert support and development from The King’s Fund.

WILD supports young parents in Cornwall, a disproportionate number of whom come from disadvantaged background, which means they often experience poorer health outcomes for them and their children. It provides opportunities for individuals to develop skills, improve self-esteem, make positive and healthy choices, and achieve their potential. It runs group sessions with mothers across Cornwall, one of the most deprived areas in the UK, focusing on mental health, relationships, healthy lifestyles, including establishing smoke-free homes, and building attachment with their children.

Despite being a relatively small organisation, last year it supported 115 fathers, 214 mothers and almost 250 children. It also provided training to 206 professionals, including teachers and police on how to work with young parent families. It is able to demonstrate impressive outcomes: of the young mothers it worked with who were at risk of having their children removed, 47% had a reduced risk in safeguarding assessment and 30% had their child protection plans removed.

As well as its work with young families, the judges were impressed by WILD’s partnership work across the health sector. It also works with local supermarkets to provide free healthy snacks to children attending its groups.

Lisa Weaks, head of third sector at The King’s Fund, said: “WILD is a relatively small charity, but the judges were impressed by the big impact it has in supporting young parent families in an area where they face many challenges.

“The judging panel were also impressed by the way WILD works together with parents as well as its proactive approach to developing partnerships that help support its work. It is a dynamic and caring organisation that is making a real difference to the health and wellbeing of the young people it supports.”

Jo Davies, manager of WILD, said: “We are absolutely delighted to win, as we are such a little project and so having our work recognised at a national level is really exciting.

“Winning the award means we are able to give a national voice to some of the most vulnerable people in the UK. It also validates the work we are doing here, and sends a powerful message to other organisations about the quality of our work and the benefits of partnering with us. As a small charity, the award money will also make a big difference and we will be speaking to the parents we work with about how we can make the best use of it.”

Developing leaders in the charity sector is an important aim of the GSK IMPACT Awards programme, which has now been running for more than 20 years, and WILD will have access to training and leadership development tailored to its needs. It will also be invited to join the GSK IMPACT Awards Network, a national network of almost 80 award-winning health and wellbeing charities working together to develop their leaders, find new ways of working and support others.

WILD will receive its prize at a ceremony held at the Science Museum in London in May, along with seven other GSK IMPACT Award winners.