A project where young people help other young people has scooped a national award.
The Bridge Project, in North Acton, has been presented with an Inspiration Award by the charity Kids Count.
The project was set up by Jackie Riggon because she was looking for something for her children to do during the school holidays 15 years ago.
It provides youth clubs, activities and workshops for young people in the area as well as a mentoring scheme. Many of the activities are run by young volunteers.
Jackie said: “It’s a national award, hundreds of organisations were nominated. We’re just a little voluntary group. It was a real shock. It didn’t sink in for about a week when we were told we’d won.
“The mentoring award wasn’t won by me, it was won by the young people, they’re the ones that mentor.
“We’re training the young people so they can take over. I have been away ill since September and the young people had kept everything going.”
The scheme also offers young people an opportunity to work on gaining qualifications, including in youth work, photography, IT and web design.
The Bridge Project was nominated by Acton Community Forum and Ealing Central and Acton MP Angie Bray.
Ms Bray said: “Jackie is a star who’s done so much good work on the estate where she lives in North Acton with her children.
“Kids Count is a great organisation and their awards scheme is a fantastic way of ensuring that the good work people like Jackie do gets proper recognition.”