CHAMPIONS of the West rewards ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Western Sydney to the tune of $10,000 grants in multiple categories.

The 2015 grants program is expanded this year to acknowledge the achievements of Western Sydney innovators and those making a difference in their community and respective fields.

This year’s categories include small business, education, sport, and the arts.

The Sunday Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph and NewsLocal— together with corporate partnersNAB, NRMA, Crown, UWS, Origin Energy, Harvey Norman, and TAFE WSi — will reward those excelling in their fields.

Are you a Champion of the West? Nominate using the entry form for your chance to win $10,000 for your business, initiative or innovation.

THE CATEGORIES ARE:

GRANT CATEGORY	CRITERIA
Champion of Champions – People’s Choice	Chosen by the public throughout the People’s Choice (15-22 March).
Start up	An innovative project that increases productivity and provides better outcomes for Western Sydney
Young  Entrepreneur	A young Entrepreneur, under 30 years of age who lives and works in Western Sydney, and whose start up is of benefit to the Western Sydney community.
Small Business (50-100 Employees)	Excellence in small business located in Western Sydney (50-100 Employees).
Small Business (under 50 Employees)	Excellence in small business located in Western Sydney (under 50 employees).
Community	For not for profit organisations running innovative community programs or projects that addresses unmet needs for residents, workers and visitors of the western Sydney community.
Indigenous Excellence	Programs that promote the development of relevant skills for Indigenous Australians, including education, life skills and employment prospects.
The Arts	For a creative arts organisation or outstanding program that promote engagement with the arts of western Sydney.
Workplace of the future	Innovative workplace initiatives.
Classroom of the future (secondary)	Innovative secondary education programs. Excellence in the conduction of teaching and learning programs in addition to the secondary school curriculum through the use of digital innovation.
Energy Smart Business	Excellence in making a difference with sustainable business operations and energy efficiency
Sport in Education	Excellence in primary, secondary or grass roots sporting programs that promote health, exercise and wellbeing for the youth of western Sydney.
Classroom of the future (primary)	Innovative primary education programs. Excellence in the conduction of teaching and learning programs in addition to the primary school curriculum through the use of digital innovation.
Apprentice Employer	Excellence in training and providing above and beyond career advancement opportunities for an Apprentice(s) within their business.
Tomorrow’s Leaders Today	A business that invests in the development and implementation of accredited Vocational Training programs to continually upskill their employees, meeting future business growth and future career prospects of their staff.

Ready to enter? Please have a read of the Terms and Conditions (PDF) and then use the form

Last year’s inaugural winners have each put their grants to great use. It was a five minute meeting with Premier Mike Baird at last year’s award ceremony that turned the Peppertree Cafe and Training’s $10,000 grant into $60,000.

“It has been such a life changer,” program manager Mary Malak said.

“We met the Premier at the awards night and he gave us $50,000 towards our service”.

The cafe offers young unemployed people in the Bankstown area with free training on how to run their own cafe and then the chance of paid employment.

The cafe took out the Employment category with the money used towards opening two new coffee windows allowing for more young people to be trained.

For Liverpool’s Youth Space the win was the kickstart Patricia Hall needed to turn her grant into $150,000 — and counting.

“Not only do we now have enough money to build our basketball court — we are now costing a recreational area and looking at other programs such as tuition and uniforms for the kids,” Ms Hall said.

The Creative Fringe owner Debbie O’Connor just has to literally look around to see where her $10,000 win for Small Business went — into a renovated warehouses and 16 new “hot desks”.

The Creative Fringe offers those who work from home or are faced with a long commute to the office a space from which to work — and not feel so isolated.

With the money, Ms O’Connor said they were able to renovated an existing warehouse to create more work space and increase the number of “hot desks” from five to 16.

John Warby Primary School School principal Ann Kitchin used their $10,000 win to renew the lease on a school bus crucial to ensuring students attend school.

For Natasha Lay and the Friend-2-Friend Youth Mental Health Project she works on, the $10,000 win couldn’t have been put to better use with the money going to essential training of young people.

It has been a massive year for Buffy McDonald and John Eastwood and their team at the Young Adults Disabled Association Inc (YADA).

“We have gone from being in debt for the last four years and finally being in the ‘black’ a little this financial year,” Ms McDonald said.

The organisation won the Environment category for their Liftin’ The Load initiative and thanks to the generosity of businessman Kerry Stokes and Coates Hire they also received a new forklift.

For nurse Naomi Travers her win in the Innovation category means it has helped turn their idea “into a tangible, working prototype — which is a huge milestone”.

Ms Travers through her company Alembra Diagnostics designed a urine collection device to assist with obtaining samples from mentally impaired or aged care patients.

“Now I have something to show nurses, doctors and patients so they can visualise a device that is very different from those currently used for diagnosing urinary tract infections. This is the first of many steps needed to bring a product to market and make a difference in the status quo”.

For youngest winner — martial arts prodigy Ben Camua — life has been one competition to the other. The 12-year-old Young Achiever used his prize money to fund his trip to the World Championships in Azerbaijan and late last year won the Australian Open championships for his age category.

“Our next goal is to get to the Commonwealth Championships in Scotland,” Ben’s mother Janice said.