From The Editor
Wandsworth Volunteer Award winners
More than 300 people turned up to a special events organised by the council and Wandsworth Volunteer Centre to pay tribute to the borough’s volunteers.
The first ever Wandsworth Volunteer Awards aimed to promote volunteering in the borough and recognise people who have made an outstanding contribution to their community or organisation.
There were more than 150 nominations for the awards, and the winners were presented with their prizes at a glittering ceremony in the civic suite on November 27.
Each volunteer did a significant amount for their organisation and the standard of entrants was exceptionally high. An independent panel of judges including deputy leader of the council Maurice Heaster, Kerry McQueeney from the Wandsworth Guardian, James Bank from Greater London Volunteering and Dr Mike Nussbaum from Volunteering England were faced with the tough task of choosing the winner for each category.
Entertainment was provided by Elliott School Jazz, Valda Wilson and Alison Luz from the National Opera Studio and Ricochet Street Dance.
Waitrose Wandsworth sponsored the event and provided the food and drink, served by a team of scouts and guides.
Among those presenting trophies were The Mayor of Wandsworth, Councillor John Farebrother, Deputy Lieutenant, Major Peter Istead and Greater London Assembly Member for Wandsworth and Merton, Richard Tracey.
The winners all received a crystal trophy plus £60 of John Lewis vouchers. Waitrose provided an iPod for the Young Volunteer of the Year and Young’s Brewery donated a weekend for two in one of their hotels for the winners of the Judges’ Special Award.
The awards winners were:
• Care Volunteer of the Year – Diana Plant, Thomas Pocklington Resource Centre
• Community Volunteer of the Year – Wayne Jennings, Volunteer Centre Wandsworth
• Environment Volunteer of the Year – Vicki Carroll, Wandsworth Environment Forum
• Sports Volunteer of the Year – Anita Russell, Dover House Lions FC
• New Volunteer of the Year – Vivienne Minto, Volunteer Reading Help
• Young Volunteer of the Year – Amanda Slater, Wandsworth Young Carer’s Project, Katherine Low Settlement
• Team of the Year – South London Swimming Club
• Organisation of the Year – Family Action
• Lifetime Volunteer - Gunvantrai Shah, Brendoncare
• Judges Special Awards – Pete & Joan, Battersea Arts Centre
• Volunteer of the Year - Kitty Gilbert.
Photographs of the evening can be viewed and ordered online at imagetogo.net/go/?19309
A short film, ‘Making a Difference’ was especially produced for the awards and highlights the variety of volunteering opportunities in the Borough. This will be soon available to view online at the council and the Volunteer Centre websites, and will be available for organisations to use as a professional recruitment tool.
To find out more about volunteering and to access the online database of local volunteering opportunities, visit
www.wvsda.org.uk
The picture shows Amanda Slater receiving her award from Waitrose manager Ken Storr.
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