Wigan organisation Happy Smiles Training CIC needs your vote in the National Diversity Awards

Happy Smiles Training CIC has been nominated for the Community Organisation Award for Disability at the National Diversity Awards 2024.

The awards were launched in 2012 to recognise the unsung heroes and community organisations working to enhance lives and make a difference around the country.

Happy Smiles was set up in Wigan in 2019 by Haydn Smith, who has cerebral palsy, and his friend Alex Winstanley.

It sees people with disabilities deliver training to schools, community groups and businesses in Wigan and further afield.

They have delivered training and projects to more than 17,000 people, working with organisations such as Levi's, Manchester United and the NHS.

The organisation has gone from strength to strength and in 2022 it was named on the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100, which celebrates the most influential disabled people in the UK.

More than 90 per cent of the people in its workforce have a disability and more than 80 per cent are women.

The team at Happy Smiles Training is now asking people to show their support by voting for them in the National Diversity Awards.

Voting runs until May 15 and it will be followed by judging and the announcement of a shortlist, before the winners are revealed during a ceremony at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral on October 4.

Judges will consider both the quantity and quality of the nominations as part of the process.

To vote, go to www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/awards-2024/nominations/happy-smiles-training-cic/