Last night, Generation Rent was handed the Housing and Homelessness Award at the 2017 Sheila McKechnie Foundation awards in London.

The award was in recognition of our work in the past year to mobilise renters as a political force, which culminated in the government’s announcement of a ban on letting fees in November.

The brilliant runners-up in our category were the Community Land Trust Network and the Wales Co-operative Centre.

Collecting the award with my colleagues Seb Klier and Betsy Dillner, I dedicated the prize to the participation of our thousands supporters, the generosity of our hundreds of donors, the time devoted by our trustees and volunteers and the support of our nearest and dearest.

It is an honour to be recognised by the biggest awards for campaigning by charities and non-profit organisations, community groups and individuals, and it was humbling to be on a list of winners that included the Hillsborough campaigners and the IC Change campaign to prevent violence against women.

Our eyes remain on the prize of lasting reform of the housing market.

We are working on the next phase of our campaign to ban letting fees – which must still be passed by Parliament – and to push the government further on providing stable and affordable homes for renters.

We rely on the generosity of our supporters to keep campaigning, so please consider donating here or setting up a monthly donation.

Thank you for your support!