The winners of this year's Neighbourhood Awards have now been announced.
For the last few weeks our four judges, including two of our tenants, have been busy picking this year’s winners for awards including: Amazing Volunteer, Gardening Awards, Pet Awards, Project of the Year, Young Hero and Good Neighbour.
Meet this year’s judges...
Amazing volunteer
We had a total of 38 nominations for this category this year and the first-place winner was Marion Lyon. Marion was described as a selfless individual who freely gives her time to support others. For many years she has been running a Christmas day lunch at St Andrew's for those in the community that would otherwise be on their own on Christmas day. She also volunteers helping out with children’s work on Sunday mornings at the church, runs a Fairtrade stall and is currently in the process of making St Andrew’s an ‘eco-friendly’ church.
Project of the year
Our Project of the year award was won by Chiltern Way Academy (CWA) which focused on students making a difference to their reputation and environment. The Chiltern Way Academy Prestwood Project has had a huge impact on the lives and skills of CWA’s SEND students. As part of this project students have cemented an area and built benches to make themselves an outside space where they can sit and have lunch. CWA won a prize of £200.
'It’s really important for us that the school engages with the community. The students get involved with lots of projects each year and it keeps on growing. There is a real bond between the school and local community now. Thank you so much for this award'. Sarah Stevens, Head of Campus.
Pet awards
This award was supported by Rock to recognise our amazing pets and how they have a positive impact on our lives. The winner was Misty who has been more than a companion to her owner.
'Misty has been my reason for getting up in the mornings. She is my everything.' Pat, Misty’s owner.
Best kept garden
Best kept garden was won by Rosa Iaciofano. Her immaculate garden is filled with beautiful plants, trees and bushes, including some special additions of a lemon tree and a homemade bird feeder.
Rosa said, 'Oh my goodness, I am so taken back by it, and it really shows that hard work pays off! I love the trophy! Thank you so much!'.
Best small garden
Best small garden was won by Judy Sinnot for her amazing use of space!
Judy said, 'Thank you so much, I wasn’t expecting this. I’ve seen some lovely new lights for the garden, so the voucher will go towards them'.
Best vegetable garden
Best vegetable garden was won by Sandcastle Nursery. The children have worked tirelessly to produce an amazing allotment. They started early in the year by planting seeds and then transferring them into the raised beds.
We spoke with Sandcastle’s Deputy Manager Jo who said, 'I’m so excited, the children are so excited! It’s something we do every year. The voucher will go towards new raised beds for next year so thank you so much'.
Best communal garden
Best communal garden was won by Gweneth Court, one of our schemes in Marlow. They have created a beautiful and colorful garden which can be enjoyed by all. The scheme won £100 which can be used to make it even better!
One of the tenants, Geoff, said, 'Another resident and I keep busy in the garden as we really enjoy it. All the small children walking past on their way to school stop and look at all the bright colours. I get a lot of enjoyment from doing it and the residents love it too so thank you very much'
Young hero
There were seven amazing nominations this year for our Young Hero award, but this was won by Aadam Khan who works with Wycombe Youth Action (WYA). Aadam has been really hands on over the last six months, his key milestones have been speaking at WYA to showcase his journey, volunteering at Empower youth club which he used to attend years ago as well as helping at community events such as WYA Carshow. Aadam is really keen to continue his journey and has currently been looking into Youth Offending Social Work.
We spoke with Aadam when presenting his award who said, 'Thanks for this, I can’t believe I won! I enjoy doing it. I will be giving the voucher to my mum to help her out. Thanks again'.
Good neighbour
We received 29 nominations for the Good neighbour award. Geoff Hunter was declared winner and received an overwhelming amount of nominations. Geoff has been described as an amazing neighbour who is always there to help anyone in need. Thank you, Geoff, for your ongoing support and care offered to your neighbours.
Geoff said, 'I wasn’t expecting this at all. It’s nice to be nice and we all look out for each other here, I just really wasn’t expecting this!'
Joanne Reilly, our Volunteering, Engagement and Events Manager, said: 'We'd like to thank everyone who nominated in this year’s Neighbourhood Awards.
'We had a record number of nominations, which made the judging very difficult. Our Neighbourhood Awards are such an important event, recognising the members of our community who are helping to improve their neighbourhoods and the lives of the people who live in them.
'Congratulations to all winners and to all those who were nominated.'