The Mayor to present his awards to the successful nominees for the Mayor’s Awards 2018.
Minutes:
The Mayor
(a) reported he had attended 24 events since the last meeting of the Council highlighting in particular the Civic Service, the Parkside Commonwealth Day Flag raising event, Melton Scouting St George’s Day service, and his visit to the Bottesford Youth Group;
(b) referred to an invitation he had received from Dr Aman Puri, the Consul General of India to address a conference last August in Birmingham to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Independence of India. The Mayor stated he was delighted and honoured to welcome Dr Puri to this meeting of the Council;
(c) referred to information received from Councillor Wyatt at the 7 February Council meeting when Members had been told that the Borough’s affiliate ship, HMS Quorn had been decommissioned in December of last year. The Civic Officer had followed this up as the Council had not been officially notified of this event and had discovered that the Mayor of Ipswich, the ship’s other affiliate town, had been invited to and had attended a special decommissioning ceremony on 14 December. On behalf of the Council and the Borough, the Mayor had written to the Royal Navy to express frustration and disappointment that the Council had not received a similar invitation. A response had been received from the Royal Navy apologising sincerely for this administrative oversight and re-assuring the Mayor that the Royal Navy held all its affiliates in high regard and appreciated the support the Borough had given the Ship over the years. An invitation had been extended to the Mayor to visit the ship and have lunch in the wardroom of HMS Nelson in Portsmouth. The Mayor expressed his thanks to the Chief Executive and the Civic Officer for pursuing the matter on behalf of the Council;
(d) extended his congratulations to Councillor Greenow who had completed the Brighton Marathon in just under 5 hours;
(e) introduced the presentation of the Mayor’s Awards for 2018 and welcomed the Awardees, their nominators, family and friends to the meeting.
The Mayor's Award of Merit was given to those volunteers who have made outstanding contributions to their community; acknowledging both adult and young Citizens who have given their time and energy in helping people and showing such selfless commitment to the Borough and the communities within it.
The Mayor congratulated every winner and hoped that by accepting one of these awards they were going some way to receiving the recognition they deserved. He also hoped that through the publicity given to these Awards it would inspire others to volunteer their help for others. The nominators were also thanked for recognising the outstanding contributions made by the Awardees within their own communities and walks of life.
Awards of Merit:
Melton Community
First Responders
Medical Emergency
Volunteers
• Unpaid volunteers respond to medical emergencies on behalf of East Midlands Ambulance Service providing help and reassurance to the patient, their family and friends;
• Attends thousands of incidents in a year, providing a very valuable and appreciated service to the community;
• Between a group of 11 responders in the Melton area, they have contributed over 17,000 hours of unpaid service in the previous year.
Christine Radford
Chair, Melton Mowbray
Parkinson’s Support Group
• Organiser of the local support group for those suffering with Parkinson’s disease and their carers
• Arranges the monthly meetings, guest speakers and outings for group members and their carers;
• Provides unstinting support and goes out of her way to reassure members
• The group meetings are a source of advice where members can gain knowledge and benefit from companionship
• Is an inspiration to others as she also suffers from Parkinson’s
• Organises fund raising activities which go towards supporting the Group and research into the disease.
David Brown
Chair of Melton &
District Indoor Bowls Club
• During 30 years of voluntary service, he has ran various committees, and overseen hundreds of local people joining the club to enjoy the sport and visit the facilities he has helped to create;
• The membership of the Club is currently 670 and the facilities have provided people with an opportunity to participate in the sport, enjoy the benefits of socialising and making friends;
• Has made a significant contribution to the community and raised the profile of the Melton through its association with the facilities.
Melton Borough
Award
Graham Swann
Chair of Frisby, Hoby and Rotherby Cricket Club
• Manages the Club, volunteering 40 hours a week to manage and promote community participation in the sport locally, along with the maintenance around the cricket ground;
• Has been involved with the Club for 38 years and has ensured that the Club’s facilities are also used for various community activities. His dedication and commitment has significantly contributed to the Club being very much part of the regular social scene in the villages which has grown the community spirit, bringing people together;
• Has created an infrastructure to enable participation of 50 young people each year in the sport, along with 40 adults, creating a legacy that has enabled them to keep fit both physically and mentally;
• Over the years has raised £200,000 to keep the cricket club and facilities running;
• Has used the club and its facilities to welcome new people into the villages and encourage young people to take up the sport.
[As Mr Swann was unable to attend the Presentation evening, his award was accepted on his behalf by Councillor Hutchison.]
Young Citizen
Awards
David Burrows
Venue Volunteer &
Coach to Under 12’s Rugby Team
• Volunteers every Thursday at Venue at Melton Learning Hub with the younger age group with whom he has a great rapport and as a result of which he has been asked to be a peer mentor for other students;
• Assists the coaches on the Under 12’s rugby team at Melton Mowbray Rugby Football Club which involves an hour training session on Thursday as well as every Sunday during the season for training or matches;
• Is about to undertake a course to become a referee for the team
• Is a committed young person with excellent communications skills and sets an example by being hard working, reliable, motivated, kind and caring. Other young people relate to him as his style of coaching is patient, encouraging and fun.
Libby Duncan
Sport coaching
volunteer
• Provides sports coaching, some paid but majority unpaid, to children from the ages of 3 years upwards to teenagers as well as those with special needs;
• Is committed to encouraging as many children as possible whatever their age or ability to be involved with sport, especially girls through the #thisgirlcan campaign;
• Is motivated by a desire to give back to her sport (tennis) what she herself has got out of it;
• Her achievements include: planning and delivered lessons in tennis for her PE teacher; undertaken work experience at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, London which included working with the National Deaf team, volunteering for the National School Sports Finals at Loughborough University assisting the Wheelchair Tennis team both at this event and the Wheelchair Tennis Masters finals, trains at Grantham tennis club where she is part of junior and adult mixed teams and has coached a master class alongside Boris Becker and Andrew Castle;
• Sets an example to other young people with her positive attitude and her ability to communicate with all ages.
Leah Wainman
Youth Leader for Asfordby Hill Community Group Youth Club
• Has been a member of the Youth Club since its opening 4 and a half years ago and recently became a youth leader for the early session;
• Helps and interacts with the 6-11 year old children and has organised an “Asfordby Hill’s Got Talent” show involving the children;
• Organises indoor and outdoor activities, including ‘get to know you’ games and arts activities which help the children socialise, settle in and make friends
• Spends her own time organising and resourcing activity ideas for the children whilst at the youth club;
• Sets an example to others by her hard work and commitment to helping others.
Ellie Hull
Student at Birch Wood
Special School
• Has represented Great Britain by competing in the Special Olympics in horse riding;
• Is an inspiration to others with special needs and is a role model to her peers;
Melton Vale Interact
Group
Student Volunteers,
Melton Vale Post 16 Centre
• Have organised and run fund raising events for a Leicestershire & Rutland based charity, Hope Cancer which has also raised awareness of the charity’s work;
• Volunteered their time to benefit a worthwhile local cause
• Involved the Centre’s 400 students and staff to support their fund raising.
The ‘Robert Hyslop Citizen of the Year Award’
to the most
outstanding of the Award of Merit nominations
Presented by the Mayor on behalf of Mrs Eileen Hyslop to the Melton Community First Responders
The Derek Sanders Cup presented by the Mayor to the outstanding Young Citizen nomination - David Burrows
Mayor’s Special
Award:
1279 Squadron (Melton Mowbray) Air Training Corps
Awarded in recognition of:
• the distinguished service the 1279 Squadron has given to the community since it was officially formed in 1941
• the benefits it brings to the young people of Melton Mowbray and surrounding area by offering the full Cadet experience so they can build upon their confidence, skills, and achievements to equip them in later life
• the support it has given to the Mayor of the Borough of Melton through the Mayor’s Cadet