Harborough District Council has held the first annual Community Awards ceremony to recognise and celebrate the contributions of voluntary and community groups and individuals.
It was also an opportunity to present the Citizen’s Cup to Martin Johnson CBE in recognition for all that he has done to raise the profile of Harborough District. (Who can forget where they were for THAT World Cup final?).
Members of the public nominated community groups, voluntary organisations, charities, volunteers, and others who make a valuable contribution to their local community within the Harborough District.
The Community Awards consisted of five award categories
Special Recognition of the Year
Voluntary and Community Group of the Year
Young Person of the Year (11-18yrs)
Young Person of the Year (19-25yrs)
Volunteer of the Year (26-59yrs)
Volunteer of the Year (age 60+yrs)
We were delighted that Dot and Tony were runners up in the Special Recognition category. Tony is our longest serving volunteer driver with more than 17 years, a truly epic contribution. Dot is only just behind him and she was nominated because she has driven more miles than any other driver this year and has volunteered almost every day through the year.
At the ceremony they not only answered questions about what being a volunteer driver involves but gave one of the best recruitment shout outs I’ve heard.
VASL was shortlisted in the Voluntary and Community Group of the Year category with a special mention for the Digital Volunteers who aim to help older people to get online. The winner of the category Broughton Astley Volunteer Group started in Covid and has gone from strength to strength since then, their weekly coffee morning alone has around 70 people each week and has speakers from organisations such as VASL who will be of benefit to the members.
Full details of the other award winners are on the HDC website
Photo Sam (Community Champions), Dot, Jenny (Community Champions), Julia (Charity Manager,) Tony
