THE third Pride of Redditch Awards last Friday (December 11) has been hailed the best yet. With entertainment from Indigo’s youth group Music Maker and it’s o25s (over 25s) kicking off the celebrations for a night to be remembered.
Organiser Ian Dipple said: “The aim of Pride of Redditch is to recognise the people in this town who are making Redditch a better place to live. Seeing so many people turn out to celebrate our unsung heroes was testament to how much we all value these special people.”
The 220 strong audience crammed into Woodfield Middle School to give praise to all 48 nominees and listen to the stories of the 26 winners as they were unveiled.
The awards recognised groups from local charity Redditch Nightstop who provide accommodation for 16-24 year olds, to the Forge Mill Volunteers who help to keep Redditch’s heritage thriving, through to the business community including Steve Bennett of the Genuine Gemstone Company and Zoe Gardner of Cutting Edge for showing you can be successful in business while going out of your way to help the community.
The individual winners often included people overcoming significant adversity like Billy Vale, aged just 13, who lost his brother George to cancer and since then has dedicated himself to fundraising thousands of pounds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital through his passion for singing, acting and holding discos which has taken him all the way to America.
At the other end of the spectrum, others were recognised for decades of service to the local community such as Alma Bright Clarke, Redditch Choral Society and Nick Houghton of Where Next.
This year was the second time Pride of Redditch recognised the work an individual posthumously. Emma Flatley, aged 21, was tragically killed in an accident but had dedicated herself to helping young people, and there were tears from the packed audience as her family went up to collect the award on her behalf.
Credit to Neal Stote for becoming the first person to win three consecutive Pride of Redditch Awards for his work on Save the Alex. Given that the town recently lost its maternity services, organisers presented its midwives – The Alex Angels – with bouquets to recognise their work and their devastating loss to Redditch.
Awards founder Rebecca Blake said: “Thanks to the people who took time to make nominations, the nominees who work so hard for others, the help we receive from supporters and sponsors and not forgetting the Pride of Redditch volunteers behind the scenes.
“We had a heart warming celebration of the best about Redditch and we are already looking forward to Pride of Redditch 2016.”
The full stories of all the winners will be on the Pride of Redditch website imminently.
