The best of Telford celebrated at Community Pride Awards – see all the winners

Inspirational individuals and groups came together for the awards on Thursday night, the 50th anniversary of Telford's formal creation.

The culmination of a year of events celebrating Telford and its people, the awards ceremony at the Telford International Centre saw 12 groups and individuals recognised in various categories including Outstanding Volunteers and Environmental Champions.

The awards night coincided with the beginning of the Christmas market in nearby Southwater, and the lighting of floating lanterns on the Southwater lake.

Master of ceremonies Carl Jones introduced the awards, saying: "We've been celebrating Telford's 50th anniversary throughout the year – we have done the town proud.

"This is a chance to recognise and celebrate the individuals and groups and businesses that make Telford special.

"Nominations for these awards were open to all people living in the borough, and they came flooding in."

'Privileged'

Lifelong Telfordian Julie Ward was the winner of the Unsung Hero award.

The 45-year-old worked tirelessly this year on the Let's Go Quackers community arts trail, which went on to raise upwards of £32,000 for the Severn Hospice and the Jayne Sargent Foundation.

She said: "When the council contacted me to tell me I was shortlisted I was in floods of tears.

"I feel privileged to be here with all of the other nominees.

"To me everyone who was nominated and is here tonight is a winner.

"They all help to make Telford what it is, a place that we all love.

"I have been here all my life. I would be very reluctant to ever move away."

Malcolm Webster was commended in the Unsung Hero category posthumously for his selflessness and commitment to developing children's sport in the borough.

The Street Champions, who help clean up the streets of the borough, won in the Environmental Champions category.

Member Moz Wright, 67, wanted to get involved in clearing litter after seeing rubbish on his runs down Dawley Road.

He said: "It's very rewarding to win, as rewarding as picking up litter!

"There are over 500 of us, but lots of companies and individuals support us, for example Denso on the industrial estate in Hortonwood.

"We're accepting this on all of their behalf really."

Volunteers

There were three categories for Outstanding Volunteers – for under 18s, groups and adults.

Jessica Terry, 15, was named the under 18 winner for a raft of volunteering commitments, including caring for her ill mother and sister and helping out at the PDSA.

She has saved both of their lives in recent years – reacting swiftly when her mother had a stroke to call ambulances, and again when her sister went into anaphylactic shock.

She said: "It's amazing, I can't stop shaking.

"My mum nominated me without telling me, I only found out about it when I got a phone call from the council."

Jessica lives in Wellington and studies engineering at Telford College.

Feed the Birds won the group category for their efforts in keeping Telford's birds fed, while Becky Cutler won in both the adult and overall volunteering categories.

Becky, 18, volunteers tirelessly for Signal, a charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, and the Parkinson's disease support group her grandad attends.

She said: "It's really nice to be recognised, I didn't expect to win at all."

She raises awareness of Parkinson's disease and the hard of hearing, and this summer helped organise a teddy bears' picnic in the town centre.

Claire Martin, who moved to Shifnal from Aqueduct this week, won the Sporting Achievement Award for her running prowess.

Claire has been running since she was nine, and has won more than 100 athletics titles.

She has found success in the English Masters series multiple times.

Claire is currently injured, though she said she was delighted to be nominated for the award.

Sustainability

Cameron Watson won the Educational Achievement award for battling dyslexia and discouragement from teachers to go on to study music at the University of Salford.

Linda Leo won the Good Neighbour award for her dedication to collecting shopping for her neighbours.

She also cooks Christmas meals for her housebound next-door neighbour and brings them around to her, along with a flower and a glass of wine.

The Holy Trinity Academy at Priorslee won the Best School Environmental Project award.

Students and staff alike have been pushing for sustainability and have been on a recycling drive, replacing plastic bottles with cardboard cups where possible.

Pupils who collected the award said their win would not stop them pushing for greater green awareness in the school community.

Gary Annett won the Inspirational Healthy Lifestyle award for giving up three nights a week to support runners in the Hartshill Runners group.

Gary weighed 19st before teaching himself to run, and in 2015 earned a qualification and began passing on his guidance to other aspiring runners across Telford.

The club has grown to more than 100 members, and Gary now wants to expand to four nights a week to help even more people.

He said: "People ask me why I don't charge to put the sessions on - it's because I'm the one who gets something out of it when I see them succeed."

Community spirit

Denso, who have a factory in Hortonwood, won the Social Responsibility Champions award for their work with canal groups, young carers and schools in the borough.

Christmas Smile won the Best Community Support Group award, while Hannah Whitmore picked up the individual award.

Christmas Smile provides presents and hampers to vulnerable children and adults for Christmas, and Hannah was rewarded for her work with the MyFAM Project, teaching children social skills via workshops and activities.

Groups including the Telford Aftercare Team (TACT) and the town's Citizen's Advice Bureau were also recognised with awards from the mayor and council leader.

In an interval, Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies thanked council officers who helped make all of this year's Telford50 events a reality.

The awards evening closed out with a speech by Telford's mayor Raj Mehta, who spoke of his pride in Telford's community spirit.

And the winners are...

Best School Environmental Project – Holy Trinity Academy

Sean Devereux is a form group of 25 environmentally-aware pupils in year 7 and 8 that has led a campaign to clean up in and around their school and raise awareness of the impact of litter.

The group is aware of how lucky they are to attend a brand new school, but as the school has grown they have also become aware of the increasing amount of litter and chewing gum.

They began by drawing in chalk around chewing gum left outside the school to highlight the problem. They also linked up with Telford & Wrekin Council’s Street Champion initiative to do more.

They decided to spend their ‘impact day’ collecting litter around Priorslee and have realised that positive improvements can only happen if schools gets actively involved.

They now have a weekly litter rota, carry out regular litter picks, come rain or shine, and have produced information materials for form tutors to share with their classes.

They raise funds and have campaigned for their school to end the sale of plastic bottles in school and buy metal HTA water bottles for all.

Best Environmental Champions – Street Champions

This group of community volunteers give their time to help with local litter picks and also join together to clean up local beauty spots, such as The Wrekin.

Volunteers of all ages get involved to make a difference to our environment and communities. There are now over 500 volunteer Street Champions who work in all weathers to help care for their communities.

Outstanding Educational Achievement – Cameron Watson

Cameron has overcome a range of sensory issues and literacy difficulties from a young age. He began to develop a passion and talent for music while studying at Abraham Darby where he played saxophone, drums and piano. Due to his perseverance, commitment, passion for music and talent, he went on to achieve three A Levels and is now studying for BA Honours Degree in Music at Salford University.

Outstanding Volunteer (under 18) – Jessica Terry

Jessica is a young carer for her mother and a volunteer. She volunteers at the PDSA and library. She plays the ukulele (self-taught) and teaches a young girl how to play. Jess “has and will always put others first”. She is a huge support to her mother and her sister. She called an ambulance for her mum when she had a stroke and also save her sister’s life after she went into anaphylactic shock. Her mother nominated her to say thank you for being ‘an amazing young lady who helps everyone.”

Outstanding Volunteer (adult) – Becky Cutler

Becky signed up to volunteer at Signal, a deaf and hard of hearing charity, after taking part in a British Sign language (BSL) course with mum Emma. She did this to support her communications skills due to a speech impediment.

The tutors instantly loved her and were impressed with how adept she was at BSL and for the support she gave to others on the course. Her confidence grew and she asked to volunteer for Signal.

Since starting, she has helped dozens of children learn basic finger spelling and BSL. She is a great advocate for the deaf community and has shown great initiative – even securing funding from her employer to the charity.

She is described as engaging and patient, with a wonderful manner that brightens the day of everyone she comes into contact with. She wants to continue her work with the deaf community in a professional capacity and has secured a place to study BSL and Deaf studies at university.

Outstanding Volunteer (group) – Feed The Birds

Feed The Birds aims to help people in our borough who housebound, isolated and lonely.

There are now 14 Feed The Birds volunteers who are trained and matched with someone who lives local to them. Each week, these amazing volunteers give up their time to visit a matched client.

They clean and refill the bird feeder and chat about the birds they have seen. They are dedicated to improving the lives of the people they visit and friendships are formed. Although a new initiative, it is already proving a success with an increasing number of referrals, which is thanks largely to the volunteers’ commitment, enthusiasm and dedication.

Sporting Achievement – Claire Martin

Claire has been running in Telford since she was a 9-year-old at Brookside Middle School, now Windmill Primary. She has been a member of Telford Athletic Club and has progressed to win several Shropshire titles at school and club level, as well as finishing in the top 10 in many regional championships. She is now the women’s team manager for the Midland Counties, and is ranked in the top 3 in the UK for her age group in many distances on the road and track. She has represented England Masters at Cross Country on many occasions and has also won the Home Countries International Cross Country title. This summer she won the British Masters 5000m track championship. She is putting Telford on the national running map.

Best Community Support (individual) – Hannah Whitmore

Hannah is a single mum of two young children, one with autism and the other with disabilities.

Despite her busy life, she is always there to help others in her local community. She recently gave up work to become a full time carer for her daughter. Over the years, she has found that people don’t always understand the problems that arise for those who have an autistic child. As a result, she started up the MyFam Project which aims to bring families together and provide opportunities for young people with a variety of conditions and disabilities to socialise and learn from one another.

She started up a Telford Neighbourhood Watch Facebook page to keep people in touch with one another and share information – it now has 9,000 followers.

She raises funds to help others, helped distribute water when the recent burst pipe cut off supplies and supports the Christmas Smile project.

Best Community Support (group) – Christmas Smile

Christmas Smile provides presents, hampers and hope to some of the most vulnerable residents in our borough.

Originally set up to help children, it later expanded to help others – older people, young families and those living in difficult circumstances.

Year after year they try to do more, and last Christmas they gave out 5,000 presents.

Smile works with local organisations, charities, schools and care homes to ensure local residents receive Smiles each Christmas – letting them know they are cared for, they are important and they matter.

Good Neighbour Award – Linda Leo

Linda is a real support to her neighbours, some of them elderly with limited mobility.

She helps people on a daily basis, happily running errands, checking how they are and making them a cup of tea. She has even taken a neighbour a Christmas lunch, glass of wine and flowers so that they were not alone on Christmas Day.

She enjoys going out for a walk and often picks up litter as she goes. She has done lots of volunteering and currently helps out in the local library.

Unsung Hero – Julie Ward

Julie has worked tirelessly over the last few years putting on events to raise money for both national and local causes.

Her latest mission was to bring 10 giant ducks to Ironbridge. The Lets Go Quackers duck trail brought delight to visitors in Ironbridge before moving to Southwater as part of Telford’s 50th birthday celebrations. Julie spent hours getting the project off the ground and making it happen. As well as bringing pleasure, Julie and her ducks raised more than £30,000 for two local charities.

Unsung Hero Posthumous Award – Malcolm Webster

Malcolm has been awarded a posthumous Unsung Hero award because of his contribution to our community.

It was only after he passed away earlier this year that his colleagues learnt of just how much he did for others though volunteering.

He was a School Governor at Lawley Primary School and Chair of Governors at Donnington Wood Junior. He went out of his way to support schools, staff and children, in particular children from the traveller community and families in need.

He was instrumental in setting up inter-school football tournaments, acting as secretary and match organiser. Without him, the children of Telford would not had an established structure for the tournament, which culminates in a week of finals at the Bucks Head.

He was the mainstay of St Georges Cricket Club for more than 20 years. As well as being vice chair of the club for many years, he was a regular scorer on a Saturday.

Perhaps his greatest achievement was his work as a junior coach, introducing an entry level group called Junior Dragons.

Inspirational Healthy Lifestyle – Gary Annett

Gary gives up three nights a week to support the local community.

He has supported so many people, of all ages and abilities, who thought they could not run – helping them get fit, lose weight, socialise or just have fun.

Social Responsibility Champions – DENSO Manufacturing UK

Denso has shown a real commitment to supporting local projects, in particular ones that have a positive impact on the environment and people’s wellbeing.

As well as supporting the work of the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust to restore the important waterways, the company welcomes local schools into their Eco Garden.

The garden provides a safe and stimulating outdoor environment for pupils to plant and nurture vegetables, learn about bees and explore the sensory garden, woodland and pond. It runs a Walking for Health scheme that encourages people of all ages and abilities to take part in short walks with other friendly, like-minded people. Denso also provides financial support for respite activities for young carers in the borough.