Eight Broxtowe Heroes Recognised At Voluntary Awards

At the awards, on 13 March, the Mayor, Councillor Robert Bullock presented awards to winners across eight award categories, celebrating the community spirit and supportive nature of the Borough.

Receiving the Benefitting Broxtowe Award, the overall winner, who has made a significant impact on the Broxtowe community, was Richard and Michelle Daniels who set up baby loss charity Forever Stars following the stillbirth of their daughter Emily.

On finding out they had won, they said, "We're extremely proud to be residents and volunteers in Broxtowe, and it's a real honour to receive the award tonight. It represents a lot of people, doing a lot of hard work to promote the baby loss cause in our Borough. We'd like to say thank you very much for all the support and long may it continue."

The runners up were Oxjam Beeston, who organise the town-wide music festival and fundraiser and Carl Knight, a volunteer at Attenborough Cricket Club for more than 15 years.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Sandie Deacon, a well known face in the Beeston Rylands area who volunteers for multiple groups and organisations. The runners up were Adrian Walker, for his work at Eastwood People’s Initiative and Rob and Geraldine Kirchen-Jones who manage the food club at the Hope Community Hub in Chilwell.

Sandie said, "I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for recognising my hard work and dedication with the award. It means a great deal to me and I feel truly honoured. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for honouring me with this prestigious award. I'm very grateful for the recognition to be able to carry on helping others."

Mayor of Broxtowe, Councillor Robert Bullock said: “It was an absolute privilege to be able to host these awards and each and every one of the winners is a credit to our Borough and the wonderful, caring people who live here. It was great to also have our runners up present on the night to also applaud them for their continues efforts to help improve the lives of local people.

“I would also like to thank our sponsors John Pye Auctions, Boyes, AW Lymn and The Pudding Pantry for their support for this important community event.”

Joining Richard and Michelle were:

Youth Work Award

• Winner: Karen Anderson - dedicated leader of the 4th Beeston Brownies for almost 27 years.
• Runners up: Katie Humpherson – local Brownie’s Leader and Steve Lewis – Youth Worker at Transform Training.

Young Volunteer Award – sponsored by Boyes

• Winner: Freya Buxton - who has supported the Eastwood Poppy Appeal for several years.
• Runners up: Amelia Rose Lings – litter picker and fundraiser and Phoebe Chiu – Bramcote Swimming Club volunteer. 

Sporting Volunteer Award

• Winner: Paddy Reston – a driving force behind Stapleford Cricket Club.
• Runners up: Pete Scott – integral member of Stapleford Town Football Club and Jeanette Rigby – volunteer at Bramcote Swimming Club. 

Culture and Heritage Award

• Winner: Colin Fletcher – long-term volunteer at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum.
• Runners Up: Friends of Bennerley Viaduct – who support the running of this important historical site and Anna Sheldon – who has supported the development of a community dance group in Brinsley. 

Green Futures Award

• Winner: Martyn Oliver – dedicated volunteer at the Serenity Garden to ensure that the natural environment provides a calm and healing space for bereaved families.
• Runners Up: Helene Laanest – runs Canopy 2050, which aims to aims to substantially increase the tree canopy of Broxtowe and The Friends Of Colliers Wood - who have been working for many years to upkeep Colliers Wood. 

Community Hero Award

• Winner: Andrew Checkley – outstanding girlguiding leader.
• Runners Up: Eastwood Memory Café – support families affected   and Sharon Cahill – volunteer at Broxtowe Family Hub.