09 Oct 180 nominations submitted for first ever Torbay Community Champion Awards

WOW. Put your hands together and show some appreciation for the incredible 180 nominations made for the first Torbay Community Champion Awards.

We asked you to take the time to thank and celebrate the fantastic workers and volunteers who strive to make a difference across the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector (VCSE), and you have done just that.

Now, our judges have the challenging task of producing a shortlist of just three in each category that will be invited for afternoon tea at Torbay Communities’ 10^th Anniversary AGM at the Redcliffe Hotel in Paignton later this month.

Their unenviable task is to narrow down the field and select the winners from a very strong field, all of whom should consider themselves among the best in the Bay; why else would someone take the trouble to nominate them?

But that is not all; having selected winners from each category, we will be looking for the person most deserving of the title Torbay Community Champion 2024 – the best of the best, the worker or volunteer whose efforts have gone above and beyond.

They will be selected from the people who carry off the already prestigious titles spread across ten categories. The Health and Wellbeing Champion – someone committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people in Torbay.

The Carer of the Year will be someone who has improved the life of an individual or group through their helpfulness, compassion and support. The Emergency Worker of the Year will be someone who strives to keep their communities safe by providing emergency services, safety awareness and training.

Perhaps they will have picked up the Volunteer of the Year title by showing commitment, passion and care and making a difference to their cause and the community. The same goes for the Young Volunteer of the Year, only they will be under the age of 25.

A very strong category in this, the inaugural Community Champion Awards has proved to be the Volunteering Team, of the Year, made of groups of three or more volunteers who have made a real difference to their community or organisation.

Good Neighbours come in many forms and have shown real commitment not just during the COVID crisis, but more recently in the Brixham area when cryptosporidia contaminated water supplies but no matter what the reason, good neighbours make sure there is a place for everyone in their local community and are devoted to helping those who live around them.

Rarely does a day go by without some mention of climate change and its effects on the environment,  and hundreds of people across the Bay dedicate their lives to our naturally inspiring landscape and protecting it wherever possible. So could they also be our overall Community Champion?

Or will it be our Lifetime Award winner – someone who has worked within their community for many years and has dedicated their lives to improving the quality of life for all in Torbay?

The importance of the VCSE sector in Torbay can never be overstated and we are proud to be able to celebrate it and all who work and volunteer in it, helping improve lives in all sorts of ways, something that has been recognised by the generosity of our sponsors who will be presenting the awards on the day.

Without those workers and volunteers, many organisations would simply not exist and events, from the large-scale such as the Riviera Airshow to the tabletop sale in your local community venue, would not take place.

Torbay Communities have been championing the sector for ten years, and we are celebrating the anniversary with a series of commemorations kicking off with these Awards, which will make up the lion’s share of our annual general meeting from Thursday, October 24^th.

But they are not the only thing we are marking our anniversary with over the next twelve months. We have a series of fundraisers to help strengthen the sector, starting with our Anniversary Ball at the Grand Hotel on November 2^nd, which will be sponsored by Rockfish, Hamling Engineering, and Stagecoach.

Sea shanty singers Missin’ Tackle are also presenting a concert at the Berry Head Hotel on Wednesday, November 13^th, alongside three-part harmony group Carport Extension and pianist Anne Fairey.

Tickets and more details about all of the above are available from these links:

Torbay Community Awards 2024/Torbay Communities’ AGM

Torbay Communities Tenth Anniversary Ball

Shanties by the Sea