Not to be defeated by ongoing Covid restrictions, Gedling Borough Council took its annual awards ceremony online to ensure the achievements of people in the local community didn’t go unrecognised.
The celebrated awards ceremony attracted a much bigger audience this year by being beamed into living rooms via Microsoft Teams and Facebook Live.
The Pride of Gedling awards are held each year to celebrate the work of local people who are not often recognised anywhere else for their dedication and community spirit.
Awards are handed out in a range of categories including business in the community, young achiever and lifetime achievement.
When it became clear that running the event was not going to be an option, Gedling Borough Council got to work preparing a virtual ceremony, which was held online on Tuesday (November 3) evening and hosted by Smooth FM presenter Gareth Evans.
The first award of the night was for Business in the Community – which was won by the Gedling Road and Mapperley Plains Co-op, who have supported community schemes across the borough and also given £15,000 towards projects at Gedling Country Park.
The Community Heroes Award was scooped by Mick Ball who was rewarded for his efforts with Gedling Play Forum over the last 16 years, helping young people with a host of craft activities.
The Environmental Heroes Award was handed to Kirsty Oswell who was recognised for transforming how Richard Bonington School in Arnold recycles, with residual waste being reduced by 25% under her leadership.
The Heritage Brought Alive project secured the Outstanding Community Project Award. The project was recognised for bringing alive the entire history of the borough through booklets, videos and walks. A Special Judges Award was also handed to Arnold Foodbank and The Village Lunch, who were both also nominated.
Inspirational Healthy Lifestyle Award was won by Joseph and Cath Warren who run the Breathe Easy Gedling group that helps and supports people with lung conditions by arranging meetings and outings for members.
Two youngsters were recognised during the Dylan Barker Young Achiever Award. Young Danny Andrews-Duggins was handed the Special Judges Award after getting help for his mum who had passed out whilst they were home; he cared for her while they waited for an ambulance and also looked after his two-year old sister who was in the house at the time.
The award was won by Benjamin Neal. The youngster was on his way to Thorpe Park with his family when an 86-year old man in the vehicle in front started having a heart attack. Benjamin calmly and bravely carried out CPR on the gentleman whilst the ambulance made its way to the scene – saving the pensioner’s life.
The overall Pride of Gedling Award was won by Gwen Woolley, who was recognised as someone who has gone above and beyond for the community.
Gwen has supported many different organisations over the past 30 years and her work with Carlton Brass and also teaching music was celebrated.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was handed to Carlton Town chairman Mark Garton who was recognised for all his hard work in supporting the club over the past 20 years.
Current manager Tommy Brookbanks called him ‘the best chairman he’d ever worked for’.
Club president Roger Smith said: “Mick is tireless and so full of energy. It’s a pleasure to work with him.”
The award will be handed to Mr Garton at a later date.
