Winners of the Twyford Together Community Awards 2023

Good neighbours, sporting heroes, tireless fundraisers, keen environmentalists and energetic volunteers were all honoured this week at Twyford Together’s Community Awards 2023.

Ten titles plus certificates of commendation were given out in a two-hour ceremony hosted by Twyford Together chairman Rob Yeadon.

This is the first time since 2020 that the awards have been held and this year saw a large number of nominations made for Twyford individuals and organisations that get involved in the community and show great acts of kindness.

Incredible stories of selfless dedication were told such as that of Darren Blunden, a chef who is giving up his spare time to make soup for the warm spaces sessions at Twyford District Youth and Community Centre (a centre which on the night won ‘Community Group of the Year’).

Darren was only asked to provide his best ‘homemade recipes’ but instead insisted upon making them from scratch himself each week.

When the scheme comes to a close at the end of March, Darren will have prepared 40 litres of nutritious soup for the community.

Other individuals highlighted on the night demonstrate how people living in Twyford often put others’ needs first.

‘Neighbour of the Year’ winner Debbie Martin won for her work in collecting lorry loads of relief goods for Ukraine; Alison Chaney collected her ‘Go Green Together’ award for her recycling scheme and Caroline Maskill picked up ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ for her work in developing girls’ football at Twyford Comets.

Another outstanding sports individual, Clara Steuart, won ‘Young Achiever of the Year’ for running the Twyford 5k and fun run with her sighted guide.

Clara also encouraged others to take part in the event which saw her raise £805 for Wolfram Syndrome UK, a charity that offers support to people with the rare visual impairment condition.

Two surprise awards of the night were given in honour of the late Gordon Storey, a much-loved Twyford figurehead and philanthropist.

One Gordon Storey Award was given to Emma Donald, for her ‘staggering amount’ of volunteer work and the other was given to Jon Blower and his team at the Duke of Wellington pub for reigniting community spirit with events and by offering a community hub that Gordon would be proud of.

“Sophie at the Duke of Wellington has received many nominations this year and the Duke of Wellington also provided Twyford Together networking with a home when we started up again,” said Rob Yeadon.

“Finally, thanks to the Duke of Wellington, Nikki, of the Thai Elephant, has a base of operations.

“Congratulations on your Gordon Storey Award – he would have loved to be giving this one out.”

According to Rob, the hardest category to judge was ‘Charity of the Year’, with Camp Mohawk, Age Concern, Building for the Future and Understanding Dementia each deserving of praise for the work that they do in helping young disabled people and older members of the community respectively.

In the end the Understanding Dementia won. The dedication that came in from one of its service users read:

“Dementia is incredibly isolating for both sufferers and carers so to have a local charity to turn to has been invaluable.

“I will be forever grateful for being able to attend the online eight-week course during Covid that helped me to care for my mother who has dementia and my father, who cares for her, both in their 80s. Shirley Pearce, in particular, is amazing.”

Businesses were also honoured at the ceremony for their enterprise and involvement in community affairs and events and there was a theme this year: both the Rural Pie Co and The Cozy Nook won ‘Retailer of the Year’ and ‘Business of the Year’ respectively for their community engagement, and for their home-cooked food and friendly service.

Twyford Parish Council played a part in the evening’s ceremony with the naming of the ‘Twyford Citizen of the Year’.

Chair of the council, councillor Rohana Abeywardana, said:

“It’s been amazing to be here today and to listen to so many amazing and exceptional organisations and individuals.

“We’ve had many nominations this year for Citizen of the Year and today I am very proud to award Brian Rogers and Kurt Charge for all of the voluntary work that they do for Twyford Comets.

“They are always there at the weekends, supporting the teams and the young people, and they do a lot of fundraising for Twyford Comets.

“So many local kids have benefitted from the exceptional work that you do. You are absolutely local heroes.”