A FAMILY centre which tackles poverty on a Bradford estate has won an award for its impact on the community.

Footprints, which is based in Buttershaw, picked up the accolade from Charity Bank for helping to create jobs and providing services that have improved residents' lives.

Aubrey Sitch, chief executive at the centre, said: "Our work is really about building a sense of community. That is, helping people to develop a greater number of connections between each other which is the basic fabric of relationships in any community.

"Our primary strength is in engaging with women on the estate who have had children. Last year we provided more than 50,000 hours of employment to local people through childcare. We did that while training every one of our staff, painfully sometimes, to at least NVQ level three in childcare, with some going on to level five qualifications.

"At the same time, we gave children from our estate, who statistically are expected to underperform, a better start to their primary school education."

In the last quarter of 2014, the charity had almost 200 people make more than 1,500 visits to a variety of community activities such as stay-and-play sessions, craft groups and breakfast mornings.

Other services offered include childcare, housing, a food co-operative, counselling, child contact centre, and room hire for smaller groups such as Scouts, zumba and bingo clubs.

Footprints estimates that 100 families a week benefit from its food co-operative that sells freshly sourced fruit and vegetables at affordable prices and that 170 children receive a nursery education.

The award by Charity Bank will be presented to the centre team at a ceremony in London on June 3. The awards were open to all current Charity Bank borrowers and comprised three categories: greatest innovation, best community impact and greatest impact.

Also, for the first time in the awards’ history, Charity Bank has introduced a Public Choice Award to determine an overall winner. Only one vote per person is allowed and voting closes at 12pm on Monday. To vote, visit charitybank.org/impact-awards-public-vote.

Patrick Crawford, Charity Bank chief executive, said: "Charity Bank exists only to lend and provide support to charities and social enterprises - people who don’t just dream of a better world, but are busy building one. And because it is a condition of our loan finance that borrowers demonstrate charitable purpose and impact, the competition for the Charity Bank Impact Awards is intense.

"These awards, now in their third year, are a celebration of our borrowers’ work to improve and enrich society."