By Jonathan Ellis, a member of the Refugee Council’s Advocacy team.

Up to Bradford last Friday evening for the African Achievers’ Awards. The Refugee Council has supported this initiative led by Nile Africa, a refugee community organisation based in Bradford.

I was at the awards ceremony last year at the university, and this year it was held at the Hilton hotel and Nile Africa had received funding from the Department for International Development (DfID) to recognise the work of people both in the UK and Africa towards achieving the millennium development goals.

It was an amazing evening and such a powerful example of the energy and vitality that refugee community organisations bring to our country.

What really struck me during the evening was the number of people there who were living in the UK, many of them in exile, determined to add real value to UK society and also wanting to make a contribution to the development of Africa. And the difference that the award winners were making all over Africa was quite stunning.

And all this came about because of the vision, enthusiasm and persistence of a committed group of people living in Bradford; I think Nile Africa is one community organisation well worth watching.