Sport and volunteering groups and individuals were celebrated on Thursday 19th October in a ceremony recognising their achievements.
This was the first year of the merged awards seeing Braintree District Council, Active Braintree Foundation and Community360 working in partnership.
The awards, sponsored by Braintree Village and KI Sound and Light, are an opportunity to recognise the efforts of those who give their time to help our communities to be better, healthier places to live, work and play.
Eleven awards were given out on the night, including Sports Personality of the Year to Reah Sillett from Yong Gi Do Martial Arts and Young Sports Personality of the Year to Freia Challis from Braintree BMX Club.
Madeline Young from the First Stop Centre in Braintree, took home the Inspirational Role Model award and walked away with the flagship award of the night Volunteer of the Year. Maddie’s initial contact with First Stop Centre was as a client who struggled with her confidence but she worked through a number of courses with First Stop and was then invited to volunteer herself – providing 1:1 mentoring sessions to improve confidence in many others.
Cllr Mary Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Supporting Communities, said: “It was inspiring to hear about the amazing work being done in our district. Congratulations to all the winners and highly commended.”
John Wood, Chairman of Active Braintree Foundation, said: “These awards are a perfect opportunity to celebrate those volunteering or achieving in sport or physical activity or encouraging others to keep active. It was a pleasure to be able to honour just some of them at the awards ceremony.”
Tracy Rudling, CEO at Community360 said:
“The awards ceremony is a time to pause and reflect on another incredible year of people giving back and caring about others.
The evening provided a platform to celebrate our volunteers, it was an opportunity to say thank you to those that have dedicated their energy into making a difference, in a time when the world needs communities to come together more than ever.
Everyone nominated deserves an award, after doing incredible things in the last year and I would like to thank them for everything they have done and their ongoing dedication.”
