A charity set up to help disadvantaged communities in rural Africa to improve their water supplies, food production, health and incomes using environmental and sustainable methods, has won the overall award for excellence at the Charity Awards 2008.

Excellent Development was presented with the award at a gala dinner last night by actress Prunella Scales and chief executive of overall sponsor the Charities Aid Foundation, John Low CBE, in front of 1,000 of the charity world’s most senior representatives and celebrity guests.

Set up by Simon Maddrell in 2002, the charity helps people in Kenya to sustainably transform their environments by building sand dams, planting trees and creating terraced land to improve soil and water conservation and enable increased food production.

Run with the help of Kenyan farmer Joshua Mukusya, the organisation has worked with its community self-help group partners to build 158 sand dams, and helped 47 communities set up tree nurseries and terrace land. All of the projects have been successful, in some cases far beyond expectations because of the communities’ drive and determination to change their lives.

The judges were impressed with the sheer scale of what Excellent Development has achieved on its resources and the demonstrable impact its innovative work has clearly had on people and their environment in the area of Kenya in which it works. The fact that the idea has great potential to be replicated elsewhere was also noted.

Collecting the award on stage, an emotional Simon Maddrell said he was “quite overwhelmed” to win it, especially as the charity was just six years old.

He said the award belonged to the six UK employees and 46 staff in Africa, to the trustees, to co-founder Joshua Mukusya, and especially to the 1,292 Kenyan farmers that the charity works with - farmers who have dug 700km of terracing at 10 metres per day to build the dams. “The impact we make is driven by these people themselves,” Maddrell said.

The ceremony, the ninth annual Charity Awards event to take place, is the most prestigious national voluntary sector awards scheme in the UK and was the first to recognise excellence in the management of charities, acknowledging the outstanding work and achievements of charities from across the UK and the tireless commitment of the people behind them. Ainsley Harriott, Claudia Winkleman, Terry Waite, the Rt Hon David Blunkett, John Craven and Denise Black were among the other celebrities presenting awards in 11 categories at the event hosted by comedian Marcus Brigstocke.

Other winners include ERIC – a charity which provides information and support to children with bedwetting and other continence problems; British Red Cross - for its ‘Life Live it’ campaign to inspire young people to learn first aid, encourage educational policy change and support teachers to deliver first aid learning, and Strange Cargo, a local charity which provides public art and recreational facilities to advance Folkestone’s appreciation and practice of the arts.

Andrew Hind, chief executive of the Charity Commission, picked up the outstanding achievement award.