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We’re proud to announce the finalists for the tenth year of our Make A Difference Heroes Awards.

The Awards are dedicated to celebrating unsung heroes from across the local area. Over recent months, listeners have been invited to make their nominations across ten categories including Fundraiser, Volunteer and Young Achiever of the Year.

Two new categories were introduced to reflect the pandemic – Coronavirus Response and Key Worker.

ANIMAL WELFARE

Dog Lost Surrey is a local charity, instrumental in helping owners of dogs and cats to find their pets when they go missing. They also work tirelessly right across the county, reuniting animals with their owners.

Lockdown has been a particularly busy time for Valgrays Border Collie and Animal Rescue in Warlingham. Val runs the service from home and never turns away an animal in need. She does all of this with just a small handful of volunteer helpers.

Dan Corbin is the founder of Equine Gentling CIC, currently based in Ditchling. Dan has a group of eleven rescue horses, all with a different story to tell. The group he formed aims to rescue and rehabilitate horses without force, fear or intimidation.

CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE

Hailsham Crisis Support and Sunflowers CIC have worked tirelessly assisting all shielding, vulnerable and elderly people during the pandemic. Many volunteers have now returned to work, but continue to support the service during evenings and weekends.

Paul Barker from Fetcham runs a successful car mechanic business but set up the Community Coronavirus Care group on Facebook as he saw a frightened community and a lot of people in need of help. With support from his son Jack and a team of wonderful volunteers, it's been a lifeline for so many local people.

And finally, Lavender Catering and their kitchen team in Leatherhead helped to make and deliver ready-meals to the local community and 8 hospitals around the South East. The team provided meals to those who were shielding and all the hardworking hospital staff.

999

Whilst attending an unrelated incident in Eastbourne, PC Andy Wilkinson and PC Tom Mele of Sussex Police spotted a man who it's thought was wanted for a potential ‘acid attack’. The suspect resisted arrest and the officers showed courage and determination whilst dealing with the incident.

Not only has Special Sergeant Graham Farmer made a huge difference to the Surrey Special Constabulary, he’s also spear-headed the development of Surrey Police’s drone capability. During lockdown, Graham volunteered more than 500 hours of his time to help others.

PCSO Daryl Holter is based in the Rother District and is the Heritage Crime and a Wildlife Officer for Sussex Police. These roles are voluntary and he routinely uses his own time to attend events to raise awareness of fairly unknown types of crimes.

FUNDRAISER

Earlier this year, Kenny Smith cycled for 50 Days around the UK raising funds and awareness for the Multiple Sclerosis Trust in memory of his sister Kathleen. He started and finished in Chichester, cycling 2655 miles, raising £23,000. Over the years, Kenny has raised more than £250,000 on other treks and cycle rides!

Pauline Woolven has been at the forefront of fundraising in the many local charities she’s supported over the years, including raising tens of thousands of pounds for a local football club in Denton and a community theatre group in Seaford. She's also set up her own charity, raising even more money for good causes.

Grassroots is a Suicide Prevention charity based in Brighton. Raquel recently got in touch after losing her sister to suicide. Wanting to raise awareness and funds, Raquel has gone on to take part in marathons, fun runs, triathlons, mud runs and bike rides. She’s also a wonderful advocate for suicide prevention.

GOOD NEIGHBOUR

Roy Hill is a 76 year old man with COPD and was told to shield during the pandemic. However, at the end of May, Roy stopped shielding to deliver takeaways to elderly and vulnerable people in Peacehaven. He also helped to get Kempton House Day Centre ready to reopen, and took on cooking and cleaning duties!

As soon as Covid 19 hit, Bhavin Patel who runs the local ‘corner’ shop on Southover Street in Brighton stepped in to become the community hub. From care homes to hotels, Bhavin continues to organise teams of community runners to provide items for the elderly right across the city.

Tom Bonny was nominated by Barbara Johnson for saving her life! Barbara fell from the top of her stairs, knocking herself unconscious with a severe head injury. Tom was alerted by Barbara’s barking dog! He went around, stemmed the flow of blood and applied CPR until the ambulance arrived, acting calmly in a frightening situation!

MUSIC AND ARTS

When performances were cancelled earlier in the year, Lou Channon from Brighton Goes Gospel worked hard to keep the Community Choir together. Lou led an online choir and produced a documentary spanning the choir’s journey over the years.

During lockdown, Jonathan Veira has put on a live music show every Sunday evening from a room in his house! He’s provided laughter, fun and amazing music week after week, supporting so many people through lockdown loneliness with music and humour on his Facebook page.

Jay and Rachel De Cock from Saltdean have worked tirelessly on their community-based, music projects throughout lockdown. Jay put together a number of online jazz courses while his wife Rachel set up the Saltdean Singing Club, an online alternative to going to a choir. They also staged fundraising concerts.

KEY WORKER

Keith Stenning from Burgess Hill and Sophie Drake from Ringmer work at the Lewes House of Friendship, and have been providing a service of hot lunches to elderly people during isolation. In March, they served 20 members a day but by the end of June, they were cooking 40 hot lunches a day!

Patrick Deeley from Godstone responded quickly to the Covid-19 pandemic, setting up an online farm shop almost two weeks before lockdown, to help those that were vulnerable and self-isolating. Farmer Patrick also donated fruit boxes to NHS staff, as well as distributing food boxes within the local community.

In March, Chloe’s and Sophie’s Special Ears Fund was a small, local charity providing support to Deaf children and families, based at Camberley. Once lockdown loomed, the charity sent out hearing aid batteries to anyone needing them across the UK. Hundreds of batteries have been distributed and more than 3000 enquiries have been dealt with.

Thomas Cole was nominated by his mum Samantha, who lives with epilepsy and tends to have seizures almost every day. Thomas protects his mum and helps her to recover. He takes her to appointments and helps with medication – and all of this whilst he continues his university studies.

VOLUNTEER

When the country went into lockdown earlier this year, Patrick Andre and Vicki Conor opened a Community Store in Godalming, to help those who faced anxiety due to food poverty. With the support of local businesses and community volunteers, they’ve supported families right across the area in their time of need.

Yvonne Curling is an exceptional volunteer for Cancer United, a support charity based in Angmering. Yvonne’s own cancer diagnosis in 2011 and her subsequent treatment, made her more determined than ever to help others in a similar situation, raising thousands of pounds in the process.

After retiring from the staff at Painshill Garden in Cobham, Warwick Hutchinson stayed on as a volunteer. He’s part of the team that services the Crystal Grotto; looking after the water pump, cleaning out the coral pools and putting, back by hand, any crystals that have fallen from the ceiling.

And a posthumous nomination goes to Bill Tomlins, who started volunteering at Painshill Garden back in 1987 and contributed an unmeasurable amount of hours to helping the restoration project until his recent passing. Bill’s main role involved guiding visitors and giving talks to the local community. He clocked up over thirty years of volunteering, giving 320 talks and 942 tours!

SPORT

Seabirds is a local community interest business that promotes sea swimming as a way to improve wellbeing, both physically and mentally. It was set up two years ago by Cath Brown and Kath Ferguson. They run sea swimming safety courses, intro sessions and swimming lessons throughout the year.

Mark Blythe runs seven walking football sessions each week in Surrey for all ages, but particularly the over 50s. Some sessions include activities for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s. More than 150 people play each week and it's made a real difference to many lives in the Walton on Thames area.

Three years ago, Phil Gibbs had an idea to extend the use of a rural football ground in Horsham. He wanted a place where people could benefit from being outdoors, learn new skills and make new friendships. Phil personally funded all of the facilities and The Horsham and Shipley Community Project goes from strength to strength.

YOUNG ACHIEVER

Toby Morris is an exceptional six year old boy who raised more than £1300 for Challengers in Guildford during lockdown by doing a 50km bike ride. Toby was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 and has been a regular at the Challengers play scheme after school and during weekends.

Five-year-old Murray Miles’ world was turned upside down when his Dad, Noel, was in a serious motorbike accident, resulting in life changing injuries. Murray decided to fundraise to thank the Air Ambulance team for helping to save his Dad’s life. Murray set himself the challenge of running a marathon over five consecutive days. In April, he completed the 26 mile run in five hours 31 minutes. He raised more than £7,000.

And finally, Ollie Tomasetti is a registered Young Carer for his younger brother Edward, who has complex health needs. Throughout lockdown, Ollie has looked after his brother without hesitation whilst his parents were at work. He’s organised meals, helped with home schooling and taken Edward for walks around the village. He’s a fantastic ‘big brother’ and Edward adores him.

All of the shortlisted nominees will now be featured in a virtual awards ceremony on Monday 30 November, when the overall winners in each category will be announced, along with two Outstanding Achievement Awards.