19 Aug Giving back to volunteers with the Community Champion Awards

The 2025 awards at Bay Church, Paignton – where the next, 2026 awards will also be hosted.

Another week, and hundreds more reasons to celebrate volunteers and volunteering.

A quick look back at the events that took place across the Bay in the first ten days of August a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that hundreds of people volunteered to help deliver them.

Take the Babbacombe Fayre, which featured more than 120 stalls, all staffed by people from the Rotary, Lions, and various representative charities. Let’s assume that each had a minimum of two people and you already have 240 volunteers…add to that number the marshals, organisers and other essential volunteers and you will be pushing more than 300.

That one event raised more than £40,000 for local community groups, again expanding the reach of the event, the volunteers responsible for it and the work that can continue to be delivered as a result of it.

The power of volunteering, in a nutshell.

I was asked as organiser of the Torbay Community Champion Awards to provide a quote about the community spirit alive and thriving in Torbay and noted: “Babbacombe Fayre is just one fabulous example of how our communities come together.

“Every day there are hundreds of voluntary and charitable organisations with thousands of volunteers working behind the scenes to make the Bay an even better place to be.

“No matter how hard we try, we can never thank our volunteers and charity workers enough; not only do they contribute an amazing amount of money to the local economy through fundraising, they also save an incredible amount of money through unpaid work, allowing groups and organisations to flourish.”

Across the Bay, and on the same day, dozens more volunteers delivered the second annual South West Sardine Festival, which thousands enjoyed on the quayside. Rockfish underwrote it, but again it could not have taken place without the volunteers staffing the bars, the chefs sweating over the barbecues, and those marshalling the crowds to ensure the whole thing passed off safely.

Add to that the revival of the Pedal Grand Prix Kart Race which raised more than £4,300 for Rowcroft Hospice, all through the efforts of volunteer organisers who gave their time freely for a fabulous cause.

Paignton Festival took to the streets once again, bringing a party atmosphere to the streets and various venues, representing the culmination of another 12 months of behind-the-scenes unpaid planning.

There were probably dozens of smaller-scale events taking place all across the Bay, each doing its own bit for the community and all delivered by volunteers.

As we say goodbye to the cricket season and gear up for the start of the rugby and football seasons, coaches have been out sweating in the sunshine preparing their teams to deliver the best that they can.

Those coaches are supported by dozens of behind-the-scenes volunteers who maintain the clubhouse, the grounds, and ensure the money keeps coming in to cover all the costs.

We are now in the third year of the Torbay Community Champion Awards and nominations across nine categories are now open for entries. Do not miss your chance to honour, thank and celebrate volunteers that have made a difference in your life.

We have already honoured more than 300 people but we know that there are thousands more out there deserving of all our praise.

We cannot deliver the awards without the sponsorship of firms and organisations who recognise the their importance, so a big shout and big thanks go to:

The categories are and their sponsors are:

• Carer of the Year – Steve Darling, MP for Torbay
• Young Volunteer – South Devon College
• Wellbeing – Torbay Council
• Lifetime – Wain Homes
• Emergency Worker – Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly
  
• Climate and Environment – Cantina Kitchen & Bar (Goodrington and Torquay)
• Volunteering Team – Wollens: Full Spectrum Law
  
• Volunteer of the Year – The Greendale Group
• Good Neighbour – Cavanna Homes
• Community Champion of the Year – Torbay Business Forum

Entries close at midnight on Sunday, September 6th, so please don’t let the holidays get in the way of making your nomination. All the details are on the awards page here on our website.

The glittering awards ceremony takes place on Friday, October 2^nd at Bay Church, Sands Road in Paignton from 3pm.

Life in the Bay would be so much poorer without the efforts of these amazing people and a nomination is the very least that they deserve.