Yesterday I was asked to present awards at the 9th Pride of Swindon Awards, held at the Steam Museum alongside the Mayor, the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire and the Leader of the Council.
For me one of the most enjoyable parts of my role is being able to visit many of the voluntary groups to see first-hand not only the great work they are doing but what a real difference they are making, yet all too often they go unseen and without thanks. Therefore the Swindon Pride Awards are a real opportunity to pass on our collective thanks.
The original idea of an awards scheme came as a result of a conversation between former Mayor Steve Wakefield, Tony Martin - Zurich Community Trust, Shirley Ludford, Station Manager - Swindon 105.5 and the then Editor of the Swindon Advertiser - Dave King. They righty noticed that there were many people in our community doing some amazing things to benefit others, and they should be recognised in some way and they have gone from strength to strength.
As we entered the Great Hall the nominees were greeted by a professional stage set up and the fantastic Open Door Choir (a wonderful local organisation for adult with learning disabilities), with their Patron Shiela Harrod of Kentwood Choir beaming with pride! I did suggest the X-Factor beckons for this group and their members were keen that I should contact Simon Cowell on their behalf! It was like Swindon's very own BAFTAs, though thankfully Shirley Ludford didn’t announce the wrong winner!
We had a real mix of individual volunteers and groups who had been nominated including representatives from: Let's Hear Swindon, Penhill Street Reps, Swindon International Women's Day, Swindon Down Syndrome Group, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Haydon Artists, Penhill Guides, Swindon Soft Ball, SMAG - Swindon Museum & Art Gallery Volunteer Team, Harbour Project, Swindon Carers Centre, TWIGS, Prime Theatre, Save Swindon Libraries, the Witness Service and many, many more.
The backgrounds for each of the nominations were impressive, but none so more than Oscar Moulding, the youngest nominee aged just 9 who has muscular dystrophy. Despite his own challenges he was determined to send a special gift to his disabled friend Sophija in Bosnia to help her become more mobile. Oscar wanted to raise £800 so he could ship his £9,500 motorised wheelchair he had outgrown to his friend. He has been friends with Sophija for many years and understands her difficulty of having a manual wheelchair, which is why he was so determined to help his friend be more independent and able to play with her younger brother. He not only raised the £800, but he raised over £2,000 which allowed for further adaptions to the chair making it perfect for his friend. This really summed up what a difference someone can make and the audience really showed what a very worthy nominee he was.
Speaking to people at the event I was struck by just how excited and crucially proud they were to have been invited and nominated. We are all grateful for everything they do and we hope through events like this they can help be the inspiration for others to make such a positive contribution to our local community.
We can all be very proud of our unsung heroes and a huge congratulations to all the nominees and winners. The Mayor Eric Shaw was absolutely spot on when he said, "Swindon does a lot of things very well - and this event is one of the best".
