Agenda item

The Chairman will present the following Community Champion Awards for 2017:

·         Pat Eastop Junior Citizen of the Year

·         Volunteer of the Year

·         Community Group of the Year

·         Lifetime Achievement Award

The Chairman announced that the West Berkshire Council Community Champion Awards were launched in September 2014. In addition to the pre-existing Junior Citizen Award, three new awards were created: the Community Group of the Year; Volunteer of the Year; and the Lifetime Achievement Award. An excellent response had been received in three categories in 2017 and the standard of the nominations was very high.

A judging panel of independent representatives met to consider the nominations and he thanked them for their contribution to the awards. Councillor Webb also thanked all the nominators. He felt that it was very encouraging to hear of the contributions that volunteers made in the community as, increasingly, volunteers would play a greater part in the provision of public services and it was important that their contributions were acknowledged.

The Chairman announced that there would be two winners of the Pat Eastop Junior Citizen of the Year award due to the high standard of nominations.

The first winner was Riley Collier. Riley was nominated by Joe Sutton for the selfless way that he cared for his mother, Claire, and the mature manner with which he coped with adult responsibilities around the home.

The judges were particularly taken with Riley’s self motivation in all that he did and acknowledged the extent of his commitment.

Unfortunately Riley was unable to stay for the evening so the Chairman had met him earlier in the day to present the award.

The second joint winner for the Pat Eastop Junior Citizen Award was Bradley Ruffey. Bradley was nominated by Sonia Harris.

Bradley was a care leaver and although initially reserved about his own wishes, Bradley was supported, through the Action for Children advocate scheme, to speak at review meetings. He gradually grew in confidence and he found his voice and went on to support other children in a similar position; becoming a volunteer and now an ambassador for the charity.

The judges were impressed with the extent of Bradley’s commitment to help others in a similar challenging situation and felt that he was a shining role model for other children in care.

The winner of the Volunteer of the Year Award was Bob Lyon of Frilsham Village. Bob was nominated by Frilsham Parish Council with additional testimonials from Marcus Allum, Jules de Jongh, Sandra Wilkinson and Allison Gillespie.

Since moving to Frilsham 18 years before, Bob had been at the centre, and in many cases, the initiator of a wide range of community events and organisations in the village.

The judges described Bob as ‘superhuman’ and noted his long and exceptional impact on the lives of so many within the village.

Turning to the Community Group of the Year award, the Chairman announced that he judging panel was, again, very impressed by the nominations and decided to award a Highly Commended as well as a winner in this category.

The Highly Commended Award for Community Group of the Year went to the Carnarvon Place Gardening Group, nominated by Sandra Atkinson who explained that the group was resident-led and worked hard to enhance the environment, through gardening, for the benefit of all residents in the over 55 supported housing scheme.

The judges were particularly impressed by the enthusiasm and inclusive nature of the group, including the fundraising and sharing of produce amongst residents.

The winner of the Community Group of the Year was Heartstart Thatcham, nominated by Ann Allen. Ann explained that Heartstart Thatcham brought the Heartstart scheme, which was a British Heart Foundation initiative, to Thatcham and surrounding areas. The scheme provided free Emergency Life Support (ELS) training in the community and had also raised sufficient funds to place many external defibrillators around the West Berkshire area.

The judges noted the passion of the volunteers to promote and expand the initiative and believed them to be very worthy winners of the Community Group of the Year award.

Finally, the Chairman announced the Lifetime Achievement Award. Once again, the judging panel was very impressed by the nominations and decided to also award Joint Winners in this category.

The first Joint Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Lady Eliza Mays-Smith, nominated by Richard Griffiths-Jones, with a further testimonial from The Reverend Mary Harwood.

Lady Eliza had been a governor of St. Andrew’s School, Chaddleworth and latterly of Chaddleworth St. Andrew’s and Shefford Church of England Federated Primary Schools for over 30 years, 25 of which, she had been Chair of Governors. She had also chaired, for many years, the Saunders Wynn and Coventry Educational Foundation, a small charitable foundation whose objective was to assist with the educational development of the young people of Chaddleworth.

Lady Eliza was described as constantly supportive and ever present, having worked tirelessly, through times good and times more difficult, in her various village roles.Over very many years, her wise counsel and sensible approach was greatly appreciated in the local community, and had resulted in her being regarded with great affection and in the highest esteem.As an unsung hero, she had always been and remained much loved and respected by all those who knew her in her local community.

The judges remarked upon Lady Eliza’s proactive but quiet positive impact on the village for over thirty years.

The other Joint Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Paul Cooke of Thames Valley Amateur Boxing Club who was nominated by Chloe Cooke. Paul was nominated for Volunteer of the Year but was moved to Lifetime Achievement by the judges.

Paul ran the Thames Valley Amateur Boxing Club in Newbury three to four times per week. With current membership of over 200, the club offered boxing activities and fitness for children as young as 10 years old and was open for males and females. It was a well established and highly respected boxing club which gave the youth of West Berkshire the chance to learn self discipline, whilst building their self confidence under the strict guidance of qualified coaching staff and within the rules of the Amateur Boxing Association of England. Paul had been involved with the club for forty years and coach for thirty of those; he was the heart and soul of this local boxing club. He spent most evenings at the gym and travelled with his boxers to amateur boxing matches most Fridays and Saturdays. He ran an annual dinner show at Newbury Racecourse and arranged a summer camp for his boxers.

The panel was impressed with the longevity of Paul’s commitment to the club and the extent of his input throughout the week.

The Chairman thanked all those that had taken the time to attend the meeting.