Judgement day to honour unsung heroes in the Craven Community Champions Awards

And the standard of this year's annual awards - the fifth - has been so high that MP Julian Smith, one of the judges, has hailed the "outstanding community spirit we have in Craven.”

The Craven Herald has teamed up with Craven District Council to find the individuals and groups who work hard to help their community.

And judges have been looking hard at the 48 entries across the various categories to decide on the winners.

As well as Mr Smith and Craven Herald editor Damian Holmes, the others on the judging panel are: Cllr Chris Moorby, Chairman of Craven District Council; Mary Waterfall, of Craven College; Milton Pearson, of Craven Community and Voluntary Services; Dee Pollitt, of Craven Volunteer Centre, and Cllr Linda Brockbank, lead member for the council's Working With Communities project.

Mr Smith said: "I want to congratulate everyone who was nominated for this year’s Craven Community Champions Awards. From a community dance project to improving a local green space – all of the entries showed people going out of their way to help their communities. I thought the quality of the entries was superb and the impressive number of groups put forward shows what an outstanding community spirit we have in Craven.”

The seven awards up for grabs this year are the Arts and Culture Award, Greener Craven Award, Best Community Group Award, Sport and Recreation Award, Volunteer of the Year Award, Young Citizen of the Year Award, and Digital Innovation in the Community Award.

There is also a Citizen of the Year Award, chosen by the judging panel or award sponsor, which is not open for public nomination.

The shortlisted candidates will all be invited to attend the award ceremony, on January 12, at the Coniston Hotel and Country Estate at Coniston Cold, near Skipton, and the shortlisted groups will be featured in a special supplement in the Craven Herald on January 12.