Community Champion Winners announced!

The Community Champion Awards are an opportunity to say thank you to people who have done something special for their local community and honour those individuals and community groups who have gone above and beyond to support residents throughout West Berkshire over the last year.

Winners and highly commended nominees joined us last night (18 March) at Shaw House to receive their awards and celebrate their achievements.

We're delighted to announce that our 2024 Community Champions are:

• Volunteer of the Year: Kerry Bird
• Community Group of the Year: Lambourn Junction Community Interest Company
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Paul Cooke

The judges were impressed with the quality of nominations. As a result, there were several Highly Commended nominees across the categories.

Cllr Billy Drummond, Chairman of West Berkshire Council said:

"The Community Champion Awards are always a fantastic night. We were thrilled to receive so many different nominations and the panel found it incredibly challenging to choose the winners. Thank you to everyone who made a nomination and those who were nominated."

Volunteer of the Year

This award recognises  an individual volunteer who has made an outstanding contribution to the district of West Berkshire and its residents.

Winner: Kerry Bird

Kerry Bird formed the Speen Community Café from scratch and through her hard work it has continued to grow thanks to her efforts including recruiting volunteers to help the Café flourish. The panel were impressed with her efforts and all the work Kerry has put into this community hub. This community led group is hugely beneficial to local residents.

Highly Commended: Maria Shackell

Maria dedicates herself to her community by engaging with events across West-Berkshire, such as helping to promote the work of Berkshire Youth and Waterside Centre. Maria also provides much needed support for Tilehurst Parish Council to help them deliver the best possible service for their residents.

Maria's involvement with youth groups, art clubs, sport and much more has positively impacted many children, helping to develop a brighter future for West Berkshire.   

Paula Sanderson

For many years Paula Sanderson has been a strong advocate for flood defence and has personally supported many impacted people within the Newbury community. Her tireless pursuit of doing the right thing means future planning and flood mitigation activities will have a significant impact on the reassurance of local residence.

Community Group of the year

This award recognises and rewards a community group which has made an exceptional contribution to the district of West Berkshire and its residents.

Winner: Lambourn Junction Community Interest Company

The Lambourn Junction have done a vast amount of good work to support the local community. It has helped to revitalise the area and create a thriving community. Several social groups have been formed covering all age groups and this helped bring people together.  It was considered that the group will have a long lasting benefit on the local community. The panel felt that it would be useful for the model being used to be shared in order to benefit other areas. 

Highly Commended: Downsway School Hub Coffee Morning

Meeting every Wednesday the Downsway School Hub Coffee Morning provides a place for people over 60 to meet, chat and enjoy refreshments.

The group recognised the need for a community hub within Tilehurst and helped many people that were isolated. The effort put in by the volunteers of the Downsway School Hub Coffee Morning is much needed to strengthen the Tilehurst community.

Newbury Velo

Newbury Velo is a Community Amateur Sports Club, which encourages everyone in West Berkshire to engage in a range of cycling experiences, including sessions for all abilities.

Encouraging physical activity throughout West Berkshire, Newbury Velo are providing a much-needed service and are worthy of this award!

Lifetime Achievement

This award recognises the outstanding contribution made by an individual to the district of West Berkshire and its residents. The exceptional dedication and commitment of this person will have had a considerable impact in the area and achieved positive results.

Winner: Paul Cooke

The panel praised Mr Cooke for his long term and exceptional commitment towards the community having given nearly 40 years of his life to supporting, coaching and teaching a huge number of young people across West Berkshire as head coach at Thames Valley Amateur Boxing Club based in Newbury. The panel noted the lasting benefit Mr Cooke's work has had on local people and their lives over many years.

Highly Commended: Pamela Beddoes

Pamela's impact on her local community can be felt throughout the variety of positions she holds. For example, Pamela is a Councillor of the Purley on Thames Parish Council, Goosecroft Barn Committee Member, a member of Project Purley and a Member of the Management Team for Pangbourne Volunteers. Pamela has been active in supporting Purley since 1978 helping organise plenty of events such as the Annual Summer BBQ. 

The nominations for the next Community Champion Awards will open later this year.