A council initiative that put democracy into the hands of Dundonians was one of several projects recognised at an awards ceremony.
Dundee Decides won a gold award at the Cosla Excellence Awards 2018 ceremony in Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, on Thursday night.
Dundee City Council also won gold for its Get Ready for Work – Employment for Refugees programme. Through the programme, Syrian refugees in Dundee were given employability and language skills to help them settle in the area and find a job.
Angus and Fife councils also enjoyed success. Angus won the Scottish Government Award for Delivering Excellence, while Fife took the President’s Award.
The ‘Delivering Excellence’ award goes to… https://t.co/14rJehfQJc
— COSLA (@COSLA) October 11, 2018
The ‘COSLA President’s’ award… https://t.co/vO7Ow6rz64
— COSLA (@COSLA) October 11, 2018
Dundee City Council, on behalf of the local health and social care partnership, awarded a £270,000 contract to the Scottish Refugee Council for the “provision of a human integration service” in the city.
The ‘Local Matters’ award goes to… https://t.co/OANdyPKoAJ
— COSLA (@COSLA) October 11, 2018
The programme won in the “achieving better outcomes through partnership” category.
And on top of those wins, the local authority was handed bronze awards for its Earth Hour 2018 and the Family Fresh Air Club.
Dundee Decides was the biggest project of its kind carried out in Scotland. Thousands of people took part in the participatory budgeting project, which allowed people in the city to vote on how £1.2 million was spent in their communities.
More than 11,000 responses were received, with voters having their say on a list of projects in each of Dundee’s eight electoral wards.
Each ward was allocated £150,000 to spend on infrastructure improvements.
The results were announced in the Steeple Church in March and some of the winners included improvements to Perth Road district shopping area, improved footpaths in Baxter Park and nature trails installed at Reres Hill and Grassy Beach.
Councillor Willie Sawers, deputy leader of Dundee City Council, said: “This is an amazing achievement, we are all immensely proud of the hard work and dedication that has gone in to make these projects a success for people in the city.”
The SNP councillor added: “Both projects have delivered results and changed lives across Dundee.”
