We present the winners of the first national housing federation west midlands regeneration awards
'Partnership' – that is the one word that best sums up the secret behind the success of the three winners of the first National Housing Federation West Midlands Regeneration Awards.

Partnerships between communities, individuals, and companies across different industries are the foundations upon which FCH Housing and Care, Worcestershire Housing Association and Castle Vale Housing Action Trust's small acorns have become oak trees.

The three winners have proved that regeneration is not solely concerned with bricks and mortar by placing people, skills and training at the forefront of their pioneering schemes.

The three organisations triumphed in last Thursday's award ceremony, at the federation's annual conference, with projects that judges have called "faultless," "striking" and "dedicated." By placing the emphasis on developing local people's skills, education and re-training, between them the three groups have thrown job opportunity lifelines to parents, school leavers and unemployed people.

FCH Housing and Care, winner in the community development category, beat 17 other schemes with its childcare project.

Tracey Quirk, regeneration manager at FCH, said: "The project was born out of another idea when a group of local residents called 'Friends of Farm Park' began lobbying to get a derelict listed building in a local park developed into a nursery.

"We commissioned a study which found the project to be economically unfeasible given the circumstances and state of the building, but the idea was there and so, obviously, was the need for childcare facilities."

FCH linked up with local child carers through a facilitator to help improve services in the area and Quirk was given a brief to work on developing childminder skills to help meet the demands of the diverse local community.

"We have a large and diverse Asian community in the Sparkbrook, Sparkhill and Tyseley areas of Birmingham and we wanted to meet the needs of this community," she said.

"We have managed to get local women to train as registered childminders and this project is ongoing."

Speaking after the awards ceremony, Quirk told Housing Today: "I am really pleased to have won this award and it's so nice to get recognition for the success of the project.

"It was a success because it was a partnership providing an excellent support network."

The winner in the economic development category, was the Fresh Start Decorators Project, a joint venture between Castle Vale Housing Association Trust, Castle Vale Community Housing Association, Merlin Venture and Mercian Housing Association.

David Sparks, one of the judges and a board member of Advantage West Mid-lands, called the scheme "an excellent initiative that cannot be faulted," and praised the "culture of enterprise" it had initiated.

The project, which was open to unemployed people and those wishing to develop their careers, was set up to provide elderly and disabled tenants with a free decorating service and proved so successful that the group now tenders for private business and is looking to expand its activities.

Carole Wildeman, housing director at Castle Vale HAT, said: "We are really pleased to have won this award.

"The idea for Fresh Start came about when we went to see a similar training project in Hastings, but we also wanted to see how we could implement a proper training project and turn it into a long-term business."

The Fresh Start decorating team, which comprises one supervisor to four decorators and allows participants to study for NVQs, has so far generated an income of over £35,000.

Wildeman, said: "We have fulfilled all our aims and are hitting our targets.

"I think it was our move into the private sector that swung the award for us, as a business needs to be working within the marketplace if it is to remain sustainable.

"The key thing is providing the best services for a social group with very exacting standards and we have received many letters of praise from satisfied tenants."

Worcestershire Housing Association's student builder scheme, winner of the innovation award, is giving young people aged 14-16 years who have decided to leave school the chance to train in the construction industry and learn vital skills to enhance their job prospects.

Mike Blomer, group chief executive of West Mercia Housing Group, the association's parent, believes the partnership is the key to Worcestershire's achievements (that, and a spot of persuasion of course.)

"One of the most vital areas in which Worcestershire Housing Association excels is in arranging partnerships," says Blomer.

"We involve all the right people from the start, the builders' federations, the Construction Industry Training Board, local schools, the technical college and the local education authority.

"We pool our resources to get the enthusiasm going, and I can happily say that it is working."

Worcestershire persuaded its contractors, involved in the regeneration of a large housing estate on the outskirts of Worcester, to take on some local young people in a training capacity.

"It was very, very successful," says Blomer. "We took real pride in the fact we had pointed a few of these youngsters towards learning good skills.

"We then persuaded our smaller contractors to take on trainees and we were able to match the people to a traineeship in their preferred field.

"It worked and the scheme is now in its second year, with student builders having the opportunity to study for NVQs at technical college."

Philippa Holland, of the Government Office for the west Midlands, chose the scheme as the category winner. She praised the project for its help in addressing the local skills shortage and congratulated the project managers for their dedication.

But perhaps the most important words of commendation came from 15-year-old Peter Tongue, one of the young people whose job prospects are looking rosier thanks to the scheme.

"It's brilliant and I'm really enjoying it," he said. "At the end, I hope I'll be offered an apprenticeship. I definitely recommend it to anybody who has the chance to join in."

Peter Brown, deputy chief executive of West Mercia Housing Group, said: "The reason we were successful in the awards is because we kept focused on how we could use our skills and experience for the benefit of young people.

"We have shown that it's not always about throwing money at problems but about thinking creatively, and we are very pleased to have won in this category."

The runners-up in the community development category were Accord Housing Association Co-operative Homes and ARC Community Group.

For the innovation category, runners-up were Prime Focus and Optima Community Housing. The latter was also a runner-up in the economic development category, together with Jephson Housing Association.