Marice Cumber has been named Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 at the prestigious Leadership Awards ceremony held at the Mayfair Hotel.

Marice Cumber has been named Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 at the prestigious Leadership Awards ceremony held at the Mayfair Hotel.

She received the award for founding the social enterprise Accumul8, aimed at supporting and encouraging young homeless people to explore their creativity and gain work skills through photography.

Working tirelessly for the last three years, she secured funding, gained charitable status, negotiated access, attended sessions, gathered support and passionately pushed Accumul8 forwards.

Speaking about the award Marice said: “I was delighted to be nominated but thrilled to win!”

She added: “This recognition will help us grow the charity and open our doors to more individuals in need in the future.”

The Leadership Awards are designed to honour remarkable leaders and organisations for their continuing commitment to leadership excellence.

Beverley Jullien, lead judge in the Social Entrepreneur category, praised Marice’s “clarity of vision” and “self-confidence to recognise, support and develop others”.

The workshops started in the North London YMCA in Crouch End and now run across the capital.

Participants often have backgrounds of poor mental health, substance dependency, histories of abuse and dealings with the criminal justice system.

Many are now thriving after gaining their own accommodation, finding work and coming off benefits.