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Indies Community Awards 2024: 15 worthy winners recognised




Stories of selfless service, amazing achievements, devoted care and limitless courage warmed the hearts of an audience of almost 150 people at the Indies Community Awards 2024.

The Hilton Marquee at Bishop’s Stortford rugby club was the venue on Friday evening (January 31) for the sixth staging of the annual event organised by the Bishop’s Stortford Independent, which was livestreamed via Facebook to hundreds more watching at home.

Nominees, their guests, sponsors, civic dignitaries and employees of Indie publisher Iliffe Media gathered as host and Indie editor Paul Winspear revealed the winners in 15 categories, their stories told in videos filmed by James Garrett of HNE Media.

The Indies Community Awards class of 2024
The Indies Community Awards class of 2024

The event started with a drinks reception, sponsored by TLC Live, followed by a two-course meal provided by caterer Chives.

The evening started with a big shock for the first winner, Gill Gill.

Gill had been invited to the event as an unsuspecting guest with her daughter, Jo Sydes, founder of The Welbeloved Club, where Gill is head chef and a trustee.

Community Champion Gill Gill, centre, from The Welbeloved Club, with daughters Rachael and Jo, husband Gerry and Nick Millar, operations director with headline sponsor Stansted Airport
Community Champion Gill Gill, centre, from The Welbeloved Club, with daughters Rachael and Jo, husband Gerry and Nick Millar, operations director with headline sponsor Stansted Airport

Jo was just 25 when she set up the club in 2017 to provide friendship and company over a two-course hot lunch one Sunday a month for socially isolated older people in the Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth area. The club is named after Jo’s great-grandmother and Gill’s grandmother, Doris Welbeloved, who, after a number of strokes, spent her final years on her own due to being relocated.

The club has gone from strength to strength since its first lunch at the Hailey Hall in Sawbridgeworth in February 2018, when there were 48 diners. It now hosts up to 120 guests at Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall, and there are plans to expand its service into local villages.

Gill watched on proudly as Jo was called to the stage – and was then surprised and stunned as her husband Gerry, who was supposed to be dog-sitting at home, and her other daughter Rachael, who had driven from her home in Leicester especially, joined Jo as Gill walked up to receive the award for Community Champion from Nick Millar, operations director with headline sponsor London Stansted Airport.

The 14 other winners, who ranged in age from seven to 77, were:

BID Extra Mile Award winner Nicole Peskett, of Stock Florist, with Bishop’s Stortford BID joint managers Karen Burton, left, and Madeleine Lees
BID Extra Mile Award winner Nicole Peskett, of Stock Florist, with Bishop’s Stortford BID joint managers Karen Burton, left, and Madeleine Lees

Bid Extra Mile Award (sponsored by Bishop’s Stortford BID) – Nicole Peskett, of Stock Florist, Florence Walk, who received multiple nominations for her “fab customer service with a smile and for her seasonal installations that make everyone else smile”.

Child of Courage winner Eloise Fitzgerald with Emily Chan, an associate at sponsor Rayden Solicitors
Child of Courage winner Eloise Fitzgerald with Emily Chan, an associate at sponsor Rayden Solicitors

Child of Courage (Rayden Solicitors) – Eloise Fitzgerald, 11, who lives with mum and dad Anne-Lise and Ian and dog Spud in Hatfield Heath and attends Hockerill Anglo-European College, won for her courage living with chronic condition juvenile idiopathic arthritis. She gave an emotional thank-you to her parents from the stage.

Sports Personality winner Angela Aldam with Chris Hurcomb, head of operations at sponsor Mantle Space
Sports Personality winner Angela Aldam with Chris Hurcomb, head of operations at sponsor Mantle Space

Sports Personality (Mantle Space) – Angela Aldam, without whom Bishop’s Stortford Canoe Club, where she has been honorary secretary for 20 years, would be all at sea.

Volunteer of the Year Sian Pritchard with Richard Gilkes, managing director of The Stort Group
Volunteer of the Year Sian Pritchard with Richard Gilkes, managing director of The Stort Group

Volunteer of the Year (The Stort Group) – Sian Pritchard, who quietly goes about her business cooking and generally helping out at Age Concern Bishop’s Stortford, New Apton Centre.

The Animal Rescue Charity trustees Donna Johnson, Tony Prior, Vicki Youens and Imogen Carter received the John Turner Memorial Award on behalf of winner Jan Rose from Tees group managing director Ashton Hunt
The Animal Rescue Charity trustees Donna Johnson, Tony Prior, Vicki Youens and Imogen Carter received the John Turner Memorial Award on behalf of winner Jan Rose from Tees group managing director Ashton Hunt

John Turner Memorial Award (Tees) – Jan Rose, co-founder with daughter Fiona and trustee of the Animal Rescue Charity, which they founded in 1992 when they lived in Windhill. For respite from the barking and howling at night, they started taking in the stray dogs that were being handed in at the police station a few doors away.

Outstanding Achievement winner Rachael Hunt with Nigel Appleby, finance director with sponsor Daniel Robinson and Sons
Outstanding Achievement winner Rachael Hunt with Nigel Appleby, finance director with sponsor Daniel Robinson and Sons

Outstanding Achievement (Daniel Robinson & Sons) – Rachael Hunt, a married mother of a 17-year-old son, an NHS practice business manager and a member of Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club, for swimming a million metres in 2024 in aid of charity Panathlon.

Charity Champion Sam Barrett with Mullucks managing director Daniel Galati
Charity Champion Sam Barrett with Mullucks managing director Daniel Galati

Charity Champion (Mullucks) – Sam Barrett, who, after suffering a stroke at the age of 44 a decade ago and in the face of no support from the NHS or community, founded the Bishop’s Stortford ‘Be Yourself’ Stroke Association Support Group for fellow stroke survivors, who meet the second Monday of the month at Starbucks in Jackson Square.

Winnie De-ath, 7, with her Young Carer trophy from Peter Scarlett of the Rotary Club of Bishop’s Stortford
Winnie De-ath, 7, with her Young Carer trophy from Peter Scarlett of the Rotary Club of Bishop’s Stortford

Young Carer (Rotary Club of Bishop’s Stortford) – Fawbert and Barnard School pupil Winnie De-ath, 7, of Spellbrook, for the emotional support she gives to her elder sister Florie, 14, who is non-verbal, confined to a wheelchair and tube-fed as a result of Rett Syndrome.

Business Personality winners Fuat Fuat, left, and Andy Owen, who run We Create Better, with Darren Hayward, right, managing partner of Nockolds
Business Personality winners Fuat Fuat, left, and Andy Owen, who run We Create Better, with Darren Hayward, right, managing partner of Nockolds

Business Personality (Nockolds) – Andy Owen and Fuat Fuat, of Takeley-based creative design agency We Create Better, for the support they give to charities including Citizens Advice East Herts, Grove Cottage and Red Kite.

Person of Courage winner Stan Pinnington, left, with Jackson Square manager Michael Smith
Person of Courage winner Stan Pinnington, left, with Jackson Square manager Michael Smith

Person of Courage (Jackson Square) – Stan Pinnington, 77, of Thorley Park, who has endured bowel and prostate cancer while caring full-time for his wife Joyce, 76, who has the rare brain disease corticobasal degeneration (CBD).

Stuart Dodgson received his Contribution to the Arts award from Bishop’s Stortford College head John Maguire
Stuart Dodgson received his Contribution to the Arts award from Bishop’s Stortford College head John Maguire

Contribution to the Arts (Bishop’s Stortford College) – Stuart Dodgson, musical director for the past nine years of Bishop’s Stortford Band, which performs at town events including Remembrance and royal occasions.

Green Award winner Corinne Lewis, left, with Joanne Maton and Dan Clancy from sponsors Golf World Stansted
Green Award winner Corinne Lewis, left, with Joanne Maton and Dan Clancy from sponsors Golf World Stansted

Green Award (Golf World Stansted) – Corinne Lewis for her work with the Sawbridgeworth Repair Café and community litter-picking group Tidy Up Sawbridgeworth.

The Unsung Hero winners from Dogateers with Wendy Barriball, right, director of sponsor RecruitAbility
The Unsung Hero winners from Dogateers with Wendy Barriball, right, director of sponsor RecruitAbility

Unsung Hero (RecruitAbility) – the Herts and Essex border-based dog rescue group Dogateers, a team of 10 volunteers who use drones, ground searches and friendly traps to reunite missing dogs with their pining owners.

Sarah Clark and Melanie Tierney, sisters of Carer of the Year winner Adrian Clark, with Sarah Godsmark from sponsor Home Instead East Herts and Uttlesford
Sarah Clark and Melanie Tierney, sisters of Carer of the Year winner Adrian Clark, with Sarah Godsmark from sponsor Home Instead East Herts and Uttlesford

Carer of the Year (Home Instead East Herts and Uttlesford) – Adrian Clark, who, in 2019 in his late 40s, “put his life on hold”, according to his four older siblings, by moving into their parents’ home in Sawbridgeworth to be the night-time carer for their late father John, 87, who had Alzheimer’s, and his mother Brenda, 86, who has dementia.

Each winner received an engraved trophy, a bouquet of flowers from Floral Desires of Newtown Road and a £100 gift card from Bishop’s Stortford BID.



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