Who Is Your Local Hero?

Mary Macleod wants your nominations for awards event

Time is running out for those who want to nominate exceptional people in their community for the first ever Hounslow Volunteering Awards, being organised by local MP Mary Macleod.

The deadline for completing the application form is Friday, June 15th, and can be found on her website at www.marymacleod.com

The awards will apply, not only to exceptional individuals, but to organisations and businesses who have made a difference in the community - helping people out of poverty, turning lives around and creating aspiration.

There are ten awards and you can nominate as many people as you like for any of the awards. They may be caring for a relative, coaching a sports team or organising fund-raising events for local charities.

Mary says: “ I do hope you will be able to assist me in these nominations, so that we can celebrate the great voluntary work that is taking place locally”.

The Awards will reward local heroes, businesses and voluntary organisations who have made an exceptional contribution to the community in the past year, highlight local success stories where organisations and volunteers have made a real difference to other people’s lives and encourage more people in the Borough to volunteer in the year ahead to help the local community.

A major boost has been received with confirmation of sponsorship from local businesses including BSKYB ( Osterley), Aker Solutions (Chiswick), British Airways, Fullers (Chiswick), Shepherds Bush Housing Group (Chiswick), EMC2 (Brentford) , and Worley Parsons (Brentford).

Awards will be given for a diverse range of volunteering activities and all ages. There will be 10 main awards, each sponsored by a business or individual:

1.     Hounslow Charity of the Year
for a voluntary organisation who has achieved great impact in the local community

2.     Business Community Impact Award
for an organisation who has made a major contribution to the local community

3.     Entrepreneurial Volunteer of the Year
for someone who has initiated and led a new community project during the year

4.     Hounslow Carer of the Year
for exceptional support to a family member or friend

5.     Hounslow Mentor of the Year
for transforming the life of one person

6.     Hounslow Leadership Award
for someone who has led a team to make a real change locally

7.     Personal Achievement Award
for a person who has overcome personal adversity/challenges to make a difference locally

8.     Young Volunteer of the Year
for volunteer, under 25 years old, who has made a great local impact

9.     The Hounslow Volunteer of the Year
for volunteer, over 25 years old, who has made a great local impact

10.   Lifetime Achievement Award
for long service to the community

The panel of Judges for the awards will include the two main sponsors, Mary Macleod MP, The Volunteer Centre Hounslow, a local Councillor and Deputy Lord Lieutenant.

June 8, 2012