MENSTON based charity, The Bambisanani Partnership has been honoured in a prestigious event at Leeds Civic Hall.

The annual Leeds Compassionate City Awards celebrate the positive work of individuals, community groups and organisations to make their local communities and the city a great place to live, work and visit.The 2021 Awards Ceremony had been delayed because of Covid-19.

The Bambisanani Partnership was Highly Commended in the Sport Project of the Year category which is sponsored by the Leeds United Foundation. The partnership was praised for the inspirational ways that it uses the power of sport to connect young people in Leeds and South Africa and in particular for the way that it had been determined to develop its work despite the impact of Covid-19.

The guests heard how the partnership had created an International Athletics Challenge which linked schools in both countries digitally for coaching and competitions. Over the last year, despite the Covid chaos and disruption, 138 nine and ten year olds from four schools in rural South Africa and Leeds joined together in the challenge. Students from Vumanhlamvu Primary School in Nkandla and John Wesley Primary School in Eshowe connected with St. Mary’s Primary School, Horsforth and St. Joseph’s Primary, Pudsey.

Charity spokeswoman Catherine Chattoe thanked everyone involved in the challenge.

She said: “It was absolutely fantastic to hear about so many wonderful projects and meet some of the remarkable people involved. To be even short listed for this occasion is a great achievement but to actually receive an award is an amazing honour which reflects so well on all the team involved in Bambisanani projects both here in Leeds and in South Africa."

Partnership founder and chair David Geldart added: “There is something very special, if not unique, about the power of sport to bring people together. Leeds has a fantastic sporting tradition and is highly committed to all levels of sport throughout the city so there was never going to be any shortage of great projects nominated for these prestigious awards. There is also of course a very powerful bond between the city of Leeds and South Africa so we are very proud to contribute to this special relationship through the work of the partnership.”

Over the past 15 years the Bambisanani Partnership has engaged more than 10,000 young people from both countries in a wide range of sports-based projects and programmes which aim to promote education, health, global citizenship and leadership.