Unsung heroes celebrated at Craven Community Champions awards (From Craven Herald)

Unsung heroes celebrated at Craven Community Champions awards

2:06pm Thursday 25th October 2012 in News

Craven’s unsung heroes have been honoured at an awards ceremony.

The first Craven Community Champions were named at an event attended by 200 people on Thursday at the Coniston Hotel, Coniston Cold.

The evening celebrated the outstanding achievements of individuals and community groups across Craven and many of the awards presenters paid tribute to the amazing people who help to make district special as the winners were given their moment in the spotlight.

Tireless volunteer Freda Keywood was named Citizen of the Year for her work at Reid House, Ingleton, and her involvement in many groups around the Ingleton community. She also picked up the award for Volunteer of the Year.

Clearly emotional, she declared: “This is for Ingleton” as she picked up her star-shaped trophy.

Winners were nominated by friends and neighbours across the district after a series of appeals in the Craven Herald, which was one of the event’s co-organisers.

All those nominated were invited to the ceremony, hosted by Craven District Council chief executive Paul Shevlin.

Street Angels Skipton received the Community Group of the Year award for its work ensuring Skipton’s streets stay safe after dark.

Ben Holderness, who coaches cricket and football in Skipton, received the Sports Award.

Meanwhile, Pioneer Projects received the Arts and Culture award for its work with people with long term health conditions, mental health issues and dementia.

Maddie Cokell won the title of Carer of the Year. She has cared for her own family, residents of Crookbeck House in Settle whose clients live with severe physical disabilities and learning difficulties, the elderly residents of Settle who she cares for in their own homes on a daily basis, and a neighbour.

Izzi Ellwood was named Young Citizen of the Year for her volunteer work with many local events. Izzi, who is also a member of Craven Youth Council, will also now be entered into the Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland Young Citizen Award. The RIBI Young Citizen Awards, in association with the BBC News Channel, showcase and celebrate the positive citizenship and important responsibilities assumed by many young people under the age of 25.

To end the night, Sam Boatwright picked up a special award for Outstanding Achievement in Craven. The Epic Runner ran 50 miles a day for 50 days around the UK, raising more than £16,000 for Help for Heroes in the process.

The Craven Community Champions Awards were launched earlier this year by the Craven Herald, Craven District Council, and the Rotary Clubs of Skipton and Skipton and Craven to recognise the invaluable contributions that are made to Craven’s communities by individuals and groups across the district.

Chairman of Craven District Council, Coun Chris Harbron said: “It was fantastic to be able to recognise the contributions so many people and organisations have made throughout Craven. It makes local organisations and individuals realise what amazing work they do and know that they are appreciated by their community and I hope we can continue to run such a worthwhile event every year.”

Skipton MP Julian Smith said: “The Community Champions have shown the depth of talent there is across Craven with so many groups and individuals giving up their own time and effort to do such amazing work. The awards were an opportunity to celebrate that and say thank you to those who do a huge amount for other people.

“I want to congratulate everyone who won, everyone who was shortlisted and everyone who entered the awards and hope this year’s event will be the first of many, giving us the opportunity to showcase more of the unsung heroes of Craven in the future.”

Herald editor Adrian Braddy said: “It was a humbling evening and the looks on the faces of the winners as they received their awards made it extra special. I really hope this becomes a permanent fixture in the Craven calendar.”

Bob Hargreaves, representing Craven’s Rotary Clubs, said: “The awards highlighted just how many exceptional people live in Craven and the tremendous contribution they make to Craven’s communities. It is very important to say thank you to these people. We’re particularly pleased to have been able to sponsor the award for Young Citizen. Young people are our future, but it’s good to be able to celebrate the contribution they’re making in our communities right now.”

Sam Boatwright, who presented the sports award, said: “The awards were a chance to celebrate some truly amazing people from the area! It was great to be among those who won the awards and I was honoured to present the sports award to Ben. It was a brilliant opportunity to be able to say thanks to those people who make Craven a great place.”

Thanks were given to the Craven Community Safety Partnership and Cirteq who were the main event sponsors as well as to the individual award sponsors. The costs of hosting the awards ceremony were covered through the sponsorship.