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Nominations are now open for North Yorkshire County Council’s community awards, which pay homage to those who help communities flourish.

The awards honour local people and organisations that dedicate their time to help the County Council deliver critical services.

A new Making a Difference award has been added which this year will focus on promoting the theme of rural sustainability in the wake of last year’s Rural Commission launch.

Supported by the County Council, the commission consists of experts in rural economics, policy, community-led ventures, agriculture and the environment, business and media. It aims to address challenges the most rural communities face, and find new ways for them to grow and prosper.

The four categories are:

• Best community group – awarded to groups carrying out ongoing voluntary activity/activities in North Yorkshire.
• Volunteer of the year – awarded to individual volunteers over the age of 25 carrying out voluntary activity/activities in North Yorkshire.
• Young people volunteering award – awarded to individual volunteers aged 25 or under, or to groups or projects run by volunteers aged 25 or under, carrying out voluntary activity/activities in North Yorkshire.
• Making a difference – helping rural communities to flourish – awarded to individuals or groups who have through their voluntary activity/activities made a real difference to a rural area/areas of North Yorkshire. This award recognises unique, innovative, enterprising or resilient approaches to overcoming rural issues, challenges or disadvantage.

County Council chairman, Councillor Jim Clark, said:

We’ve introduced this new award to prove that our rural areas are filled with resilient and self-reliant communities with a reputation for helping others,”

North Yorkshire is rich in outstanding beauty, but we know that having a super-sparse population brings significant challenges. The commission is taking dynamic action in supporting growth and prosperity, which is exactly what our awards look to celebrate.

If you know somebody who is worthy of recognition, I would urge you to nominate them. There are so many unsung heroes in our community who deserve to be found.

The closing date for nominations is 25 May 2020. Nomination forms can be completed online at www.northyorks.gov.uk/communityawards

Nominations are considered by a judging panel, which includes representatives from the County Council and voluntary organisations. Winners will be announced in October.

The winner of each category will receive £1,000 for the project, group or nominated local charity in the case of the volunteer awards. Two runners-up in each category will receive £250.

Mosaics for Schools Project, Harrogate

Best community project finalist 2019

A finalist in last year’s best community project category was the Mosaics for Schools Project in Harrogate. They work as part of Artizan International, a charity which enables, empowers and supports differently-able people in the UK and in the developing world.

The project trains differently-able people to make mosaics and then takes them into local primary schools to teach others the skill. They were nominated by Oatlands Infant School, after a mosaic sculpture was created on the grounds.

Founder Susie Hart said:

Our participants felt truly proud to be nominated for the award and it had a very positive effect on their confidence and self-esteem. It was lovely to have everyone’s talents and efforts appreciated.

We believe passionately in empowering people to reach their full potential through creative skills and activities. It reduces loneliness and the feeling of invisibility amongst differently-able people, giving them opportunities to shine.

Being such a small staff team, we’re all so busy doing the work we do that we rarely have time to go out and tell people about it, so many people in the town don’t know we’re here. Being nominated for the award really helped raise our profile, which has led to new participants and volunteers joining us.

Natalie Davies, Scarborough Sea Cadets

Volunteer of the year winner 2019

The winner of last year’s volunteer of the year award was Natalie Davies, Commanding Officer at Scarborough Sea Cadets.

They are volunteer-run and self-funded, with 102 children and 24 staff in the unit. Natalie was nominated by one of the parents.

Natalie said:

It was an honour to be nominated and was humbling to be at the ceremony among so many others who do incredible work. We are all one big team and I couldn’t do any of it without them. We all aim to maintain such a high standard and give the cadets the best opportunities available.

They offer a range of activities from sailing, windsurfing and power boating, to rock climbing, camping, and music. Natalie was awarded £1,000 which was put towards equipment.

Hear more about the work Natalie does at