South Norfolk Council awards shine a light on work of district’s community heroes

A number of people were honoured at a special ceremony as their selfless efforts were held up as shining examples of community heroes in action.

Held at Bawburgh Golf Club, the worthy winners were recognised as part of South Norfolk Council’s Community Awards.

Ten awards were handed out to those that make a difference to the district.

Council chairman Sharon Blundell expressed pride in all those who were nominated for the awards.

“We received more than 100 exceptional nominations,” she said.

“The short-listing process was very difficult. Every nominee should take great pride in the positive impact they have made in their communities.

“It’s truly inspiring to see so many dedicated individuals in our district who generously give up their time to help others. Hearing their stories, makes me proud to be part of this community.”

Winners included Susan Whymark Funeral Service, which picked up the Business in the Community Award.

Having celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, the venture, which has branches in Eye, Harleston, Diss and Framlingham, is thought to have conducted nearly 3,000 funerals since its inception.

Mrs Whymark said: “I felt honoured to be shortlisted and to be invited to the awards. When I won, I was genuinely shocked and quite overwhelmed.

“It is really nice that the business has been recognised. There is a lot of hard work that goes into what we do, especially the support groups and the contributions to the communities we work with.

“I am part of a very special team of people who all go above and beyond to help bereaved people. I thank anyone who nominated me; it is a very kind and thoughtful gesture and very much appreciated.”

Wymondham and Attleborough Talking Newspaper (WATN) won the Connecting Communities Award.

The audio information service, which produces a fortnightly newspaper and a quarterly audio magazine for visually impaired people, put out its first edition in 1998.

Chairman Tony Vale said: “It was a great surprise to win the award and a great honour because it coincided with the production of our 1,300th edition.

“It was also my 70th birthday on Monday, so it has been a double celebration in a way.

“From the point of view of the organisation, it is great to know that it has been publicly recognised. We could not have done this for so long without the help of our volunteers.

“We have had up to 40 of them producing our work and, without them and the generous donations we receive, we would not be able to keep flying the flag, so thank you to everyone.”

Elsewhere, Harleston Information Plus was crowned Community Organisation of the Year – read more about them and their award, click here.