Media Trust have announced projects TV4change, The Chatterboxes, Community Online, The Hidden City and the Port Talbot Magnet as the winners of Inspiring Voices Award 2012.

Media Trust’s Inspiring Voices Award aims to celebrate inspiring stories from across the UK of how community media, citizen journalism and community reporting have contributed to positive change in local communities.  Five projects have been selected for the award part of which is £500 to further their work through digital media.

The winners are:

TV4Change is based in North East Lincolnshire, provides communities with free media training and help get unemployed people back to work.  The judges selected TV4Change for the award because of a film project created by a group of young carers who wanted to highlight the issue of alcohol abuse.
Watch a film made by TV4Change about the long-term effects of alcohol.

The Chatterboxes is a magazine project which is run by the Bournemouth YMCA and is created and designed by young people aged 13-19 who have a disability.  The magazine showcases what activities are available in the local area for young people with disabilities and their families.  Read the Spring Edition of The Chatterboxes.

Community Online is a website that links the rural villages of St.Martins, Gobowen and Weston Rhyn, areas that identified that large numbers of the community felt isolated due to economic and transport issues.  Local resident Lee Barnfield developed Community Online and has worked all year to make it a success.  Across the three villages there are now 106 members of Community Online, a large number of which make regular contributions and post updates on a wide variety of local issues.

The Hidden City seeks out and tells untold stories from across Birmingham through an online interactive map. These stories are based on anything the community wants to tell and they use a combination of photography and film to create gripping stories that question preconceptions about the local community and are designed to provoke change.

Port Talbot Magnet is a hyperlocal website run by a team of volunteer journalists. It was set up when the local paper closed and the community wanted to continue receiving a source of local news.

Media Trust’s marketing director, Gavin Sheppard, said: “We know that there is a wealth of great media work already going on in the community, but we were especially impressed by these five projects. 

These awards recognise the achievements of projects like these winners who use media to promote a positive change in their local community.  Whether it’s creating a magazine or setting up an online forum to connect local people, anyone can use the media for the good of their local community.  I hope that the success of these projects will inspire other community groups to tell their story and get their message out there.”

To share your story their stories get free media support and connect with others visit Local360 Network