Amersham & Villages Community Board celebrate their local heroes
The Community Board hosted their annual Community Engagement Event at Amersham Community Centre (inside the Chilterns Lifestyle Centre) on Saturday 22nd April. The event started at 1pm with a number of local voluntary and community groups hosting stalls with information about the activities and initiatives taking place in the area. Refreshments were flowing and there was a lovely party atmosphere buzzing, since the event was to ‘Celebrate our Community’. The event also included announcing the winners of the Community Board’s school competition, ‘Bright Ideas’.
Martin Tett, leader of Buckinghamshire Council, Robin Walker, chair of trustees at The Clare Foundation - sponsors of the awards, and Community Board chairs, Mark Dormer and Mark Flys, presented the winning and highly commended nominees of of the Proud of Bucks Awards 2022 with trophies and certificates. The recipients knew they were shortlisted but it had been left as a surprise that they would be called up to the front to be awarded. They were thrilled to have been nominated and to go on and receive the much-deserved recognition for their voluntary efforts throughout 2022.
Volunteer, Amersham Men’s Shed: “I must say that having heard some of the other fantastic nominations we felt extremely humble and were genuinely surprised to have won the Award. It really has given our members a huge lift and we celebrated today in our usual fashion with a lovely home made cake.”
Volunteer, Family Food Hub: “It was great to be there, seeing other organisations and getting to know new people and what they are doing in the community.”
Read on to find out more about the winning and highly commended nominees:
Local Community Champion Winner
Helen Tyers “Dedicated, Caring and Inspirational”
Local community members recognised a gap in support for people with dementia and carers to connect with others and receive help and advice. Cafe22, a memory café, was launched in February 2022 at St George’s Church with Helen taking on the role as leader.
At first, the Café started with just four guests and their carers and ten volunteers, but through Helen’s determination and hard work, the numbers have grown. Café 22 has been operating for a year now, and has 16 regular guests plus their carers and over 20 volunteers. The guests and carers are delighted with the range of activities, including crafts, board games, interesting presentations and even a gym session each week. Without Helen’s contributions, the café would not have been made possible.
Local Community Champion Highly Commended
Jules Hargreaves “Heroic, empathetic, inspirational”
Jules is known locally for her involvement in the scout movement, foodbank collections and her development of the FB page, “Little Chalfont Coronavirus Help” at the start of the pandemic, but she has also provided support for the Ukrainian war effort. From the very start of the war, she pulled together a team to deliver aid to both front line soldiers and citizens of Ukraine. She setup a number of bases in the local area, advertised collection points, sorted supplies into various categories, arranged transport to Poland, setup a funding page and managed a number of fundraising events in the community. Over £5,700 was raised in cash and over 2,000 boxes delivered to Poland during these efforts. At every stage, Jules has involved Ukrainian nationals to provide a network of support in the UK and to ensure that donations on the ground reach the places they are most needed
Young Community Champion Winner
Maya Brown “Funny, Determined and Loved”
Maya has volunteered as a Brownie leader since she was 12. Through this time she has attended weekly meetings, extra outings and Brownie holidays, helping out where needed and supporting the adult leaders. Maya recently completed her Girlguiding Adult Leadership Qualification.
Through times of ill-health Maya recognised how her dog had provided support to her, and so she registered him with Therapy Dogs Nationwide, and each week through 2022 visited the children’s ward at Stoke Mandeville hospital and also Pratt House care home, making a real difference to children and their parents at a difficult time in their lives and bringing weekly joy to the elderly residents of the care home. Maya was so keen for others to benefit from her experiences, so she shared her story which was used in Buckinghamshire hospitals to train staff and access additional funding for teenage mental health services.
Young Community Champion Highly Commended
Emma Pannett “Thoughtful, Kind and Cheerful”
Emma has achieved a huge amount this year despite also having the final year of her A Levels to cope with. As a Senior Prefect for Charities and Community at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, she has supported the local and wider community, through organising food bank collections and coordinating half-termly school Charity Days. She has helped to select charities that are worthy of support and then engaged the school community with this. Additionally, she has volunteered at a local care home on a regular basis
Community Group Contribution Winner
Amersham Mens Sheds “Welcoming, Supportive, Motivated”
Amersham Men’s Shed is a community project with the goal of promoting men’s health and wellbeing through social interaction and practical activity. The Shed was founded in 2015 and has twenty-one active members, aged between 50 and 90 years. Some men, especially those who have physical or mental health issues; have retired from an active working life, perhaps lost loved ones, and often feel lonely and isolated.
Meeting two days a week, the Shed provides space to make new friends and enjoy the company of others. Some may have life experiences or skills that they can share to the benefit of the group, whilst others are able to discuss their everyday concerns, or just enjoy having a chat with likeminded friends over a mug of tea and a piece of homemade cake.
Whilst not essential, The Shed tends to focus on encouraging members to develop wood working skills, no matter how basic, extensively using locally obtained reclaimed and recycled wood. Over the last 7 years, the Shed has accumulated a good stock of new and recycled woodworking tools, enabling small and larger items to be made by the members, and sold locally at markets, fetes, and fairs.
All the work encourages team activity, self-confidence, and a sense of pride in a job well done and appreciated.
Community Group Contribution Highly Commended
The Family Food Hub “Caring. Listening. Effective.”
Sue and Victoria opened an emergency Family Food Hub in Little Chalfont in April, 2022 in answer to the current financial crisis. It complements the work of the Food Bank, operating for a number of hours twice a week, with no referral requirement. Sue and Victoria were able to gather a small group of volunteers and secure premises in St George’s Church, White Lion Road, which is easily accessed by families living in the flats nearby. Members of the church and the general public were very supportive of the initiative and the team were also able to access funding from the Council’s Helping Hand team. Through their hard work, they have been able to make a positive difference to people’s lives by providing food and activities which promote a sense of wellbeing.
