Whitby's first Mayoral Community Champions awards a huge success

The idea came from the Town Mayor of Whitby, Coun Sandra Turner, who said: “Being a councillor for me has always meant putting our community first.

"When I became Mayor in May, I wanted to introduce something totally centred around our community, so I introduced the Whitby Community Champions Award for the first time.

"Whitby has so many volunteers that carry out community work without ever looking for praise or thanks, it is clearly enough for them to just give their time freely for the benefit of others.”

The idea was that instead of having a panel made up of selected people, anyone in the community could nominate their champion, giving reasons why the nominee deserved to be recognised, making this a community champion chosen by the community event.

Coun Turner put forward that an awards evening would be held to present the town’s champions with their award and heartfelt thanks for all they give to the community.

“I am very pleased to say that the Town Mayor Champions Award and presentation evening (at The Royal Hotel) has been a huge success,” she said.

"The awards have been a small way that we can sincerely thank our wonderful volunteers.

"The event would not have been as special as it was without support from the Mayor’s Consort Coun Linda Wild, and the following businesses, I cannot thank them enough: The Royal Hotel, Arthur Franklin, Jackson’s Butchers of Ruswarp, Mister Chips, Woodsmith Mine.

“Hopefully the event will continue long into the future.”