Blaby District Council Celebrates Local Heroes at 2025 Community Awards
Unsung heroes who generously donate their time to enhance local communities received well-deserved recognition during a special ceremony held recently. Winners and runners-up in the 2025 Blaby District Council Community Awards were honoured at the annual prize-giving event, which took place in the Council Chamber.
The ceremony was attended by more than 100 representatives from the local voluntary sector community, highlighting the strong spirit of civic engagement within the district. Nominees spanned the three traditional categories: Volunteer of the Year, Young Volunteer of the Year, and Community Group of the Year, alongside this year's newly introduced category, Sport and Physical Activity Volunteer of the Year.
Judges Face Tough Decisions Amid Outstanding Nominees
As always, the judging panel found it extraordinarily difficult to select between the nominees, as all were deemed highly deserving of praise. After much careful deliberation, the Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Laura Thirlby, with Jack Barber named as the runner-up.
The Young Volunteer of the Year category, which was supported by Central Co-op, saw an inspiring tie between two remarkable young women, Grace Egbetokun and Promise Jones, with Conor Freeman receiving the runner-up accolade.
In the new Sport and Physical Activity Volunteer of the Year category, sponsored by Everyone Active, Kate Measures emerged as the winner, with Katie Griffin securing the runner-up position.
Community Group of the Year Decided by Public Vote
The winners and runners-up in the Community Group of the Year category are always chosen by public vote, ensuring the community has a direct say in recognising outstanding collective efforts. This year, the process garnered an impressive response with more than 3,000 public votes cast.
The top prize of £1,000 was awarded to Gather Create Grow's Cosby Crafters Group. Runners-up were Vipers RFC Inclusive Team, while a Special Recognition award was presented to The Winstanley School for their exceptional work in championing volunteering among pupils.
Council Leader Praises Nominees' Selfless Contributions
Councillor Ben Taylor, Leader of Blaby District Council and compere for the evening, expressed his admiration for all involved. He stated: "This is my first year as compere of our Community Awards evening and what an absolute honour it has been. To be in the company of so many amazing, selfless people is truly humbling."
He added: "Every nominee does such a wonderful job enriching the lives of so many others – they are all champions in their own way and as always choosing the final winners and runners-up has been a monumental task. Well done everyone."
The success of the awards was also attributed to the generous sponsors who helped make the event possible, including Everyone Active, Central Co-op, and the Love Blaby Lottery.
