A play by a girls' group which highlighted gender inequality were the real winners at a community awards night.

The 1V Community Champion Awards and annual dinner took place at the Maida Restaurant, Blackburn this weekend.

As well as six awards the group also rewarded 1Voice volunteers who have helped to run youth and scout organisations in the past year.

Among those is the West End Girls (WEGs) group who were keen to highlight how the Asian community treats young women through a short play.

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Their performance entitled ‘West End Girls – East End Boys’ explored the issue of marriage and they managed to tackle the issue subtly with a level of comical timing beyond their years.

The event itself was hosted by 16-year-old Zahra Ahmed and also saw nine-year old Maleeha Asif presenting the 1V Scouts video of their visit to London and the National History Museum.

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Cllr Mohammed Khan delivered a keynote speech and awarded a Community Cohesion award to faith leader Derek Estil.

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Winners on the night
Youth of the Year Award Sammy Partington
The Institute of the Year Al-Imdaad Foundation
Man of the Year Abid Saleh
Woman of the Year award Salma Mohammed

The awards culminated in the Outstanding Achievement Award which was given to Janet and Howard Alderson Perkins for their work in scouting for almost 30 years in Blackburn.

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The event also saw the launch of an organ donation campaign in Urdu, ‘It’s About Time 2’ (IAT2), specifically targeting those members of the local community for whom English is not a first language, in conjunction with East Lancashire Hospitals Trust.

One Voice Chairman, Abrar Hussain said, “The Annual Dinner was a wonderful evening with so many inspiring people gathered together in one room in a spirit of tangible cohesion.

“The fifth anniversary of One Voice in particular marks an important milestone for us.

“We would like to congratulate the winners and the nominees in the 1V Community Awards.”