Keeping track of the social initiatives introduced by London South East Colleges (LSEC) during the past 12 months is no easy feat.

As the first further education provider to embed the generation and measurement of social value in its core function, the college group provided an astonishing £20 million in social value to its local communities in 2019-20.

From FE Foodbank Friday, through which the group raised more than £46,000 for local food banks and collected in excess of 19,000 items, to designing an NHS workforce development programme to support the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in partnership with the local NHS Trust - not to mention meeting with 60 employers during lockdown to ensure that the curriculum offered across the college met the skills needs of the local community - London South East Colleges has gone above and beyond.

Trio of Scottish colleges win at the Tes FE awards 2021

Ayrshire College wins at the Tes FE Awards 2021

The Manchester College wins at the Tes FE Awards 2021

The community approach is deeply embedded, with every member of staff and every student involved in the work, and social action objectives included in performance management targets for staff.

Lead judge Fiona Aldridge said: “This year’s shortlist for the contribution to the local community award was outstanding, and London South East Colleges was particularly inspirational - from its work to support the vaccination programme to its role in launching and leading a national food bank campaign, #FEFoodbankFriday.

“The judges were particularly impressed with how the group sought to embed social value in its core function as an education provider as well as by the significant impact it has had, both in its local community and more broadly across the FE sector.”