We won a national award!

Our very humble Founder, Leila d’Aronville, posted in the North East Cultural Freelancers Facebook Group last week to let everyone know that NECF had won a national award. Her post read:

“This award might have my name on it but it belongs to every one of you. I tried to make them put NECF instead of me for the nomination. Congratulations! We won the IPSE Freelancer Community Award!”

Whilst it is true that the wonderful community spirit of NECF is largely down to its members, and we are so grateful for you, I’m here to give some of that credit back to Leila herself.

North East Cultural Freelancers (NECF) was crowned joint winner in the Freelancer Community category at the IPSE Freelancer awards. IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, presented Leila with the award at a ceremony in London. Here’s what the judges had to say about it:

“This was such a competitive category, that the judges felt we had to name two winners. Our first (NECF) wowed with their commitment and palpable passion for the community they have built. The secret to creating an effective community is understanding its members' needs and meeting them, and the winner achieved this with dedication and a driving ambition on their behalf.”

NECF shared the award with Nadine Campbell of ACE Entrepeneurs, a diverse entrepreneurs business community. 

This award comes after Leila worked tirelessly to secure funding and launched a package of support for the region’s arts and culture workers, as part of NECF’s Hold the Door Open initiative. This aims to open up more opportunities to freelancers, and to help them continue their work during the cost of living crisis. 

Thanks to a grant from Creative UK’s North of Tyne Culture and Creative Investment Programme, NECF has launched bursaries enabling freelance workers to attend training and networking events, and will soon be launching a new coworking space on Newcastle Quayside in partnership with Live Theatre.

Leila still won’t take the credit, despite her work having helped so many freelancers. Her words:

“I am so thrilled that the work of our community has been recognised with this award. It may have my name on it, but it’s the support and encouragement our cultural freelancers offer each other that has given me the motivation to carry on. This award belongs to all of us.

We have ambitions, led by Leila of course, to grow NECF in 2023. We want to support our community even more throughout the recession and cost of living crisis. It’s terrifying to be self-employed in this economic climate.

As always, our network will remain free for all to access. However, if you’d like to contribute towards the work of NECF, you can find out how to support us on our Membership page.

Lastly, congratulations to Leila and to everyone involved in North East Cultural Freelancers.