The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has congratulated a counsellor psychotherapist for helping improve community safety in Barnet.

Barnet and Southgate College volunteer Shahin Nejad was presented with a Team London Award, which celebrates the positive effect volunteering can have in communities.

The 52-year-old from Mill Hill has been volunteering for the last eight years, working with mental health charity Richmond Fellowship Barnet, the Future Jobs Fund and helping to deliver a parenting programme called Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities.

She ran sessions at the Rainbow Community Centre in High Barnet which aimed at helping reduce violence and supporting parents, helping them to develop a better understanding of child development.

Mrs Nejad said: “When I started working as a counsellor psychotherapist in 1995 I came across quite a few families with difficulties and issues. I realised that there was a need for parents to be supported.

“The programme is all about the Big Society – it’s about encouraging relationships and working together with parents, children and schools as well as the community.”

Mrs Nejad was presented the Team London Award by comedian and TV presenter Hardeep Singh Kohli at an awards ceremony at City Hall and Barnet and Southgate College formally congratulated her today.

David Byrne, Principal of Barnet and Southgate College said: "The College is an integral part of the community therefore training volunteers to work within the local area to help improve its social outcomes is extremely important to us. We would like to congratulate Shahin on her much deserved recognition from team London."

Mrs Nejad added: “It’s fantastic to get this award and to be for the work I have done over the years to be recognised and acknowledged.

“I do believe that everybody should do some volunteering – I feel it is a duty everyone should take on.”