Member Article

Landmark recognised at DMGT’s Community Champions Awards

• Winner of the ‘Team Award’ for work undertaken to transform two adventure playgrounds for Bristol families
• Highly Commended accolade presented to Darren Connaghan in the ‘Personal Achievement Award’ for volunteering deployments for MapAction charity

Reading-based Landmark Information Group, the UK’s leading supplier of digital mapping, property and environmental risk information, has been recognised at this year’s DMGT Community Champions Awards, which celebrates the charitable efforts of those that work within the DMGT group of businesses across the world, which includes Landmark Information Group.

The group picked up the ‘Team Award’ for work undertaken to repair, restore and install new play equipment into adventure playgrounds in two of Bristol’s most deprived neighbourhoods. Landmark employees from across Reading, Exeter, Brighton, London and Godalming joined forces with Splash Projects and Learning Partnership West to breathe new life into the playgrounds in St Pauls and Southmead, where much of the existing playground equipment was old, worn-out and in need of replacement.

Also at the awards, GIS & Cartography Manager Darren Connaghan, who works from Landmark’s Argyll Environmental office in Brighton, was ‘Highly Commended’ in the Personal Achievement Award. This is in recognition for the volunteering work Darren has carried out for MapAction; a charity that is dedicated to providing leading mapping services and information management expertise for humanitarian emergencies.

Mark Milner, CEO of Landmark Information Group said: “Everyone here at Landmark is very proud to have won this award. At the outset, we were looking for a project in which 300+ Landmarkers could all participate, and where we could make a difference and leave a positive mark on a community. Local children got involved in the design phase of the projects and their aspirations resulted in a safe, fun environment. I’m proud that the entire Landmark team has left a lasting legacy to provide creative development to local children well into the future. Being recognised as ‘big-hearted employees’ by our peers at DMGT for our efforts is a huge honour.”

Landmark was presented with an award plaque and a cheque for £5,000, which will go towards the group’s 2015/2016 Community Project, while Darren was presented with a cheque for £2,500, which has been donated to his commended charity MapAction.

Talking about the Community Champion Awards, Claire Chapman, DMGT CR Committee Chairman, said: “Congratulations to all of the winners and highly commended recipients in this year’s awards. Their achievements have been exemplary, and it is inspiring to see so many people across the Group dedicating their time and effort to such worthwhile causes.”

From Darren’s perspective, his most recent MapAction deployment was in support to the United Nations Ebola Emergency Response in Africa. This was a strategic placement to evaluate the GIS capacity for Ebola response across the region and to identify the best information management and visualisation tools available.

Concludes Darren: “Supporting MapAction enables me to utilise my GIS expertise in some of the most challenging emergencies that we face today in the world. I am proud to be able to support MapAction and, by being recognised in the DMGT Community Champions Awards, it means the charity benefits from receiving a generous additional donation that can be used towards providing vital aid where it is most needed.”

A video of the Community Champions presentation can be accessed via Landmark Information Group’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSva7yhHrE.

A video focusing on the Bristol Adventure Playground project can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHvXQNtaFDw.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Landmark Information Group .