Mid Sussex Community Organisers Honoured In Awards Ceremony

17 December 2019
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Mid Sussex Community Organisers Honoured In Awards Ceremony

Guerrilla gardeners, inspiring sports leaders, fundraising exercisers, and green gurus were among the Mid Sussex community organisers who were honoured alongside projects highlighting mental health awareness, hubs of community support and projects bringing music to their communities the recent 2019 Mid Sussex Applauds Awards held this autumn which celebrated the best of community organisations in Mid Sussex.

This autumn saw the first of a new set of community awards in Mid Sussex with a programme entitled, Mid Sussex Applauds. The Awards aim to highlight the work of individuals and organisations across the district, recognising connections and celebrating community achievements by residents and local groups, with the awards recognising nominees in eight categories covering a range of activities and projects in Mid Sussex.

Chairman of Mid Sussex District Council, Cllr Colin Trumble who hosted the awards in East Grinstead, said of the awards: “We would like to thank all our sponsors who helped support the awards and make this such a glittering occasion. The celebrities of this event though are of course all those honoured and recognised, and what a fantastic range of projects, stories and events we have heard from across our fabulous district.”

Awards were made in the following eight categories:

Stronger Together Award
Winner: Karen Williams
Karen revived the Duck Fair in World’s End in Burgess Hill.

Take Pride in Mid Sussex Award
Joint Winners: Rob McIntyre and Colin McFarlin
Rob instigated the Balcombe Garden Guerrillas which cares for the gardens at Balcombe Station, whilst Colin volunteers as a waste prevention advisor, delivering talks to local groups.

Young Achiever Award
Winner: Peter McCleery
Peter was instrumental in creating a petition to highlighting problems around Haywards Heath College’s closure, and has helped students get to their college near home.

Stronger Communities Award
Joint Winners: Sussex Oakleaf and Spire Cafe IT Support
Sussex Oakleaf’s Big Mental Health project promotes mind awareness,
while The Spire Café IT support group holds weekly sessions.

Business in the Community Award
Winner: Swoove Fitness – Esther Featherstone
Classes are available for everyone, it has raised more than £64,000 for charity,
and Esther aims to raise £1 million.

Young Volunteer of the Year Award
Winner: Ayo Odeyinde
During the summer holidays, Ayo arranged summer sports clubs and did all the work related to it.

Good Sport Award
Winner: Marion Hemsworth
Marion has worked to get people running and making running an
enjoyable activity available to all.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Dorothy Lazenby
Dorothy has been running 4Sight lunch clubs for more than 38 years.

Peer Nominated Award
In this category each nominee was given the chance to vote for their favourite in any of the categories, with the winner announced as Dorothy Lazenby.