Agenda item

The Chairman will present the following Community Champion Awards for 2018:

·         Pat Eastop Junior Citizen of the Year

·         Volunteer of the Year

·         Community Group of the Year

·         Lifetime Achievement Award

The Chairman explained that the first West Berkshire Council Community Champion Awards were launched in September 2014. In addition to the pre-existing Junior Citizen Award (now the Pat Eastop Junior Citizen Award), three new awards were created; The Volunteer of the Year, the Community Group of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The judging was undertaken by independent representatives and she thanked the judges for their contribution. The standard of the nominations was very high throughout all the categories. The Chairman thanked all the nominators; those of nominees that did not win as well as those of winners. She stated that it was very encouraging to hear of the contributions that volunteers made in the community.

Prizes were awarded to the winner of the Pat Eastop Junior Citizen Award and in addition a highly commended award was also granted. Emily Curtis was highly commended by the panel. The nine year old was nominated by her mother, Mrs Maria Curtis and a family friend, Emily Allen. Emily had been collecting rubbish in her free time for a number of months and successfully lobbied her local councillor to have a new litter bin installed. She also worked via a Facebook page to educate others to keep the local area clean and tidy. The judges were very impressed by the work undertaken by Emily and the ongoing impact of her campaigning.

The winner of the Pat Eastop Junior Citizen Award was sixteen year old Kieren Nailer. Kieren was nominated by Miss Helen Randall, Manager at Partners for Active Leisure Service (PALS West Berkshire). PALS were a local charity that supported children and young people between the ages of five and 25 who had physical disabilities. Kieren had been helping at PALS for over a year, completing over 100 hours of service in that time. Kieren supported the youth group on a fortnightly basis, attended every weekend and supported holiday activities. Kieren had also run a 10km race to raise funds for PALS.

The judges were particularly impressed with the extent of Kieren’s commitment to helping others in this challenging area and his very mature attitude at such a young age. Kieren was very highly thought of and a great role model to the PALS members and other volunteers alike.

The Highly Commended Awards for Community Group of the Year were awarded to the Kennet District Scout Council and the Newbury Street Pastors.

Kennet District Scout Council were nominated by David Elliott, District Commissioner. The Kennet District Scout Council supported over 1500 young people in the community including many children with special educational needs and disabilities. The panel were very impressed by the impact made by the Kennet District Scout Council to huge numbers of young people over a long period of time.

The Newbury Street Pastors were nominated by Mr Andy Bone from Thames Valley Police. The Street Pastors provided a range of assistance to those on a night out in Newbury, from giving people flip flops, helping people to get home safely and giving first aid and water to those under the influence. They helped by intervening in conflicts that occurred before they became serious. They operated in all weathers and the volunteers worked unsocial hours with shifts from 10pm to 4am. The non judgemental service which was often provided in challenging situations impressed the panel especially as the Street Pastors put themselves in potentially dangerous situations.

The joint winners of the Community Group of the Year were the Burghfield Santas and Pangbourne Dementia Friends.

The Burghfield Santas received three nominations from Mr Ben Twomey, Mrs Emma Shumsky and Ms Kylie Duncan. The group organised numerous fund raising events including a pub crawl, fun runs, Burghfest and the Burghfield Box-Kart bash. These activities raised money for very worthy causes (including a huge £150k for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance) and instilled a fantastic sense of community. The panel were extremely impressed by the strength of the nomination and could see the Burghfield Santas were clearly a charity ‘not just for Christmas’.

Pangbourne Dementia Friends were nominated by Sue Butterworth of West Berkshire Council. They actively facilitated social interaction and reduced loneliness and isolation felt by many older folk living in the community. Their activities were inclusive of people with dementia but were not restricted to only those with dementia which reduced stigma and encouraged inclusion. Events were held on a monthly basis. Sue added that the success of the group was down to their enthusiasm, commitment and generosity of time. The panel were struck by the fact that the group not only reached out to people who might otherwise be isolated but also recognised their awareness raising role in the wider community.

In terms of the Volunteer of the Year Award the judges had a very difficult job due to the number and strength of the nominations. The judges gave a highly commended award in this category as well as the overall winner.

The highly commended award winner recipient was Sue Bennett. Sue was nominated by Mr Dave Sollis. Sue was a running coach for the West Berks Run Together Groups, an England Athletics Mental Health Ambassador, a Park-run Race Director and volunteer and a fund raiser for the MS UK charity. Sue suffered with MS herself and had a very demanding job at the front line of the local NHS community service. Sue was described as ‘truly inspirational, kind, caring and a phenomenally dedicated individual’.

The panel felt that Sue was a fantastic ambassador for both the physical and mental health benefits of running and keeping active. The panel applauded Sue's positive attitude which encouraged involvement and celebrated diversity.

The winner in the volunteer of the year award category was Mrs Janet Wood. Janet was nominated by Margaret Goswell. Janet had been heavily involved with three local community groups, the Brownies, St Mary’s Church Shaw and the Shaw-Cum-Donnington Village Hall. Janet had been a brownie leader for 38 years. Janet had been a member of the Shaw-cum-Donnington village hall committee since about 1980 and inspired others with her enthusiasm and boundless energy.

The panel felt that Janet was totally invested in all three organisations and was greatly valued by everyone she worked with.

The judging panel was very impressed by the nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award and decided to award three highly commended awards and an overall winner.

The three highly commended awards went to: Mrs Helen Relf, Mr Mike Hart and Mr Graham Plank.

Mrs Helen Relf was nominated by Patricia Wynne Frankum, Chair of Bucklebury Parish Council. Helen had contributed hugely to the enjoyment and knowledge of many of the residents of her parish. This has been done through a variety of activities ranging from helping the library service deliver books to those at home, to organising the Bucklebury walking group and a very popular Theatre Group. Helen had fund raised for local cancer charities but had also offered support to fellow cancer sufferers.

The panel felt that Helen was an amazing mentor to a lot of women and that her work in the village of Bucklebury was widespread and meaningful.

The second highly commended award went to Mr Mike Hart who was nominated by Mr Richard Jones. Mike had run keep fit classes for adults in the Newbury area for almost fifty years for no financial gain. The nomination was made on behalf of the substantial number of people whose health and wellbeing had benefitted from this activity over the years. Mike had also fund raised tirelessly for local cancer charities, raising large amounts of money for these very worthy causes. The panel felt that after 50 years of service to the community Mike should be applauded for his dedication and leadership. The panel was extremely impressed with Mike's commitment to providing the fitness classes for adults as these classes had encouraged healthy living for hundreds of people whilst creating friendships and support networks. Mike's fundraising for cancer causes had also impressed the panel.

The final highly commended award in this category was given to Mr Graham Plank who was nominated by Mr John Brims. Graham had been involved in many West Berkshire activities (some since 1960) including the Bradfield Young Farmers, Bucklebury Football Club and the Scouts. Graham’s fundraising activities had been numerous and included the Chapel Row Fayre which had raised in excess of £175,000 over the 20 years it had been run. A large number of local organisations had benefitted from Graham’s commitment and enthusiasm. The panel felt the work carried out by Mr Plank was very impressive, particularly the huge amounts of money raised for a large number of charities.

The winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Mr Graham Reeves. Mr Reeves was nominated by Mrs Cynthia Herbert. Graham was the Treasurer and Co-ordinator of the Carebus Volunteer Group and had devoted 30 years of service to the group. They provided transport for the elderly and disabled people of West Berkshire. Eighty year old Graham still worked every day of the week, arranging pick-ups for hospital appointments. He had arranged the purchase of two care buses and 2 cars and recruited volunteer drivers. Graham still drove one of the cars himself taking people to hospital in Reading and Newbury. In the evenings, Graham attended to all the administration associated with the Carebus service.

The panel was extremely impressed by the nomination and applauded the fact that Graham had devoted his life to helping others some of whom were the most vulnerable in  the community.

The Chairman congratulated all nominees again and thanked them all for their contributions to the communities of West Berkshire.