They are true heroes – meet All our awards nominees...
WINNERS WILL BE REVEALED AT CEREMONY
THE 2021 LeicestershireLive Heroes Awards are almost here – as we prepare to celebrate the members of our community who inspire us.
The awards, with headline sponsor Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, will be held on Thursday.
Each year, the awards give us the chance to honour individuals and groups across Leicestershire who have gone above and beyond to make a difference, and lift up those around them.
This desire to do good has been
Ahmed Bohbat: Ahmed went above and beyond to ensure people in his community were being cared for during the pandemic.
Handing out leaflets with his number on, he made himself a point of contact for those who needed help or support.
He carried out shopping trips for senior citizens and the vulnerable, gave out free masks and sanitisers, and liaised with food banks to arrange deliveries for those in need.
Thanks to Ahmed, many people who were vulnerable or at risk from the virus were able to get what they needed with peace of mind.
His desire to help and positive outlook made him well-known in the community.
David Hartridge: David has been known to those in his area as a kind and helpful person for a long time – and his willingness to help others did not falter at all over the past year.
David has worked as a volunteer driver for Loros hospice for over 10 years, working during the pandemic as a courier for the hospice, delivering necessary supplies and provisions.
Around his neighbourhood, David was instrumental in a campaign to prevent a phone mast being built close to residences, winning him gratitude. more important than ever during the pandemic – and the people of Leicestershire did not disappoint.
Over the past 12 months, numerous people have dug deep and worked for worthy causes.
Whether it was through helping vulnerable people, running food bank drives or fighting to preserve the environment, all across the county worked to help their communities thrive.
It is these efforts the awards celebrate and, after judging, our finalists have been chosen.
Below are the worthy individuals and groups that will be named our Leicestershire Heroes of 2021.
He is the Flaxlfield Close Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, helping keep an eye out for people and maintain a sense of community.
The Peace Centre Foodbank: The centre has been working to offer food parcels and emergency assistance to those in need for almost a decade.
Over the years it has made itself a vital part of the area and won the hearts and minds of people.
It now receives a great deal of support from people in the area, making it much easier to carry out its work.
Beyond its food parcel programme, the centre also provides help to those who are struggling – in particular working with vulnerable elderly people in the area – and has a befriending initiative that works to alleviate loneliness.
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Furnley House
Fran Pearson: Fran is no stranger to helping others pull through difficult times, working for Macmillan Cancer in her everyday life.
This desire to help others carries on into volunteer work, which Fran is regularly taking part in.
Handling the media and press for Leicester Blood Bikes, Fran also volunteers as a first responder for this organisation.
In addition, she is a volunteer for Mental Health Motorbike, and has undertaken metal health first aid and suicide training, so she might be able to help those in need even more effectively.
Fran’s dedication to volunteering is such that she even carried out volunteer work for Macmillan during the pandemic, on top of her regular day-to-day duties.
Gareth Padfield: Gareth has shown himself time and again to be committed to helping those who are in vulnerable situations.
As a volunteer for Midland Langar Seva Society, Gareth has carried out extensive work to help the homeless – working throughout the pandemic in this capacity.
He has delivered supplies such as food and blankets, worked to help rough sleepers find accommodation, and to secure medical help and mental health support for people as well.
This unyielding compassion and desire to help has seen Gareth nominated for two other community awards, both of which he won.
Bijal Kotecha, The Peepul Centre:
Working as a volunteer at the Peepul Centre in Leicester, Bijal has been a significant help to the organisation.
Bijal promotes and works to support the centre’s range of services and facilities, and in doing so has noticeably increased footfall for the Peepul Centre.
During the pandemic, Bijal was instrumental in getting the centre set up as a vaccination location and has constantly raised awareness and encouraged people to get the vaccine.
Beyond this, Bijal also delivered meals and provided support to people who are vulnerable.
COMMUNITY ACTION
Charity Link (Susan McEniff): Having been in operation for over 140 years, Charity Link has a long history of helping the community.
The organisation works to ensure vulnerable people are able to enjoy a decent quality of life – and during the pandemic has helped more than 8,000 people.
Whether by providing vital home appliances like cookers and fridges to those unable to afford them, fundraising for essentials or delivering items to those in need, the team of 14 at Charity Link worked tirelessly to help people thrive in a difficult time.
Natasha Hall: Natasha is wellknown and admired in her community as someone who works constantly to help those in need.
During the pandemic alone, Natasha has cooked and provided food to the homeless, raised money for people who lost their jobs, produced children’s lunchboxes for struggling families, helped more than 15 people in temporary accommodation find a permanent residence and raised money to buy a walker for a young boy.
Natasha has engaged in such work prior to the pandemic, regularly raising money for the homeless and those struggling financially, hosting Christmas events for the homeless and having a food and toiletry donation in her cafe.
Her work has won her the admiration of her community, which knows her as a dedicated and immensely compassionate person.
Midland Langar Society (MLSS): A not-for-profit organisation run according to the Sikh principle of helping people regardless of social status or background.
One of the society’s main activities is the running of a hot meals programme, which seeks to deliver a
Seva
TAKING PLACE ON THURSDAY
hot meal a day to those who would otherwise go without.
This program has seen more than 200,000 hot meals given to homeless and vulnerable people in Leicester and during the pandemic MLSS was providing up to 1,500 meals a day.
Beyond its meal programme, MLSS also works to help people find accommodation, provides clothing and other essentials, and helps with benefit applications among other services.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEROES
Sponsored by Enva
Friends of Thringstone: For 16 years, the Fgroup has worked to preserve and improve the environment of Thringstone.
It works to clean up natural areas, plants trees and holds events to raise awareness of the group’s efforts.
Friends of Thringstone holds daily litter picks in the village and its woodlands, collecting more than 600 bags of litter between January and April alone.
The group carried out this work throughout the pandemic, to ensure the lockdowns did not lead to a deterioration of natural areas.
Liga Orlovska: Businesswomen and beekeeper Liga Orlovska has been shortlisted for the Environmental Heroes award as a result of her work to raise awareness of environmental matters.
Working with Leicester’s LCB Depot, Liga and her business Honey Craft donated a hive of bees to the business centre in an effort to encourage biodiversity – and held a bee-themed event to help people learn about how they can preserve the environment.
Honey Craft has also produced a book for children on the topic.
David Hayton-Hill and Philly Rule:
Working on the Beat the Street programme, David and Philly have devoted much of their time and energy to inspiring the people of Leicestershire to get up, active and healthy.
The programme is a free challenge that turns an area into a six-week game, in an effort to encourage locals to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine.
David and Philly have worked to engage the community in the activity, working with schools, community groups and charities to get as many people as possible on board.
Philly and David have also held events such as nature bingo to convince people to explore Leicester’s green areas, an invaluable resource for people during the pandemic.
EMERGENCY SERVICES Sponsored by Leicestershire Police
James Blackburn: As a volunteer with the Special Constabulary, James dedicated himself to ensuring the service provided by volunteer officers remained excellent even during the pandemic.
James designed and implemented a plan for volunteer constables by himself, which saw the creation of volunteer officer teams to support regular officers through the period of increased demand.
James’s plan saw about 9,000 hours of volunteer time dedicated to this, providing a huge help to regular officers – and his planning and supervision ensured volunteer teams were able to deliver an impeccable service to the people of Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.
Sergeant Steve Kilsby and Pc Phil Martindale:
Sgt Kilsby and Pc Martindale demonstrated incredible bravery on a night in March 2020, when they responded to a suicide attempt at a multi-storey car park.
Finding a woman on the sixth floor, Sgt Kilsby and Pc Martindale tried to speak to her and bring her back to safer ground.
Eventually, however, when the woman lowered herself to the edge of the car park, Pc Martindale and Sgt Kilsby rushed to pull her up and bring her back to safety.
They continued to hold on to and communicate with the woman while they waited for further assistance – ultimately spending 30 minutes in imminent danger of a six-storey fall.
In doing so, Sgt Kilsby and Pc Martindale saved the woman’s life, demonstrating incredible bravery and compassion in the process.
Pc Joe Lloyd, Pc Anna-Marie Ingram and Pc Ben Tranter: Pcs Lloyd, Ingram and Tranter earned their spot on the shortlist after helping bring an incredibly volatile situation to a close peacefully.
After being called to and preventing an attempted suicide, Pc Lloyd found himself being attacked by the person who had attempted it – being threatened with an axe.
When Pc Ingram and Pc Tranter arrived, the three officers worked to defuse the situation, despite still being in serious danger as the perpetrator was still threatening to attack them.
Eventually, Pc Lloyd, Pc Ingram, and Pc Tranter were able to calm their aggressor down, making it possible to arrest them without significant force.
The three officers demonstrated incredible bravery and compassion in working to end the altercation calmly, preserving their safety, the safety of the arrestee and the safety of the public.
BRAVERY AND COURAGE
Sponsored by Fulhurst Community College
Nick Gray and Elliott Holdsworth: In 2019, Nick and Elliot demonstrated incredible courage in attempting to stop a burglary.
Walking home after an evening out together, they came across a shop being burgled and found the perpetrators still inside the store.
Telling Elliott to call the police, Nick attempted to stop one of the burglars, and was attacked as a result – though he attempted to hold them at the scene until they drove away.
Elliott was injured while trying to stop the suspect attacking Nick, and Nick ended up severely injured after being attacked and pushed out of a moving car.
Despite his injuries, Nick said he did not regret acting and the intervention of the two did mean that no property was stolen in the process.
Adam Smith: Adam has worked to overcome serious adversity – and has gone on to use his experiences to help those who are dealing with similar problems.
Having been homeless for several years, Adam also struggled with drug addiction before being given the opportunity to break this cycle and build a new life.
He was able to secure accommodation and worked intensely to break his habit, managing to turn his life around in a truly incredible way.
Now, he works with homeless people in Leicester, to help them overcome the obstacles in their own lives, using his experience to provide real understanding and empathy.
Adam’s efforts took considerable bravery, and his desire to help other people in the same situation makes him a worthy finalist for this year’s Bravery and Courage Award.
YOUNG HEROES
Sponsored by Morningside Pharmaceuticals
Kaci Chapman: At 10 years old, Kaci earned her nomination as a Young Hero when she carried out a sponsored walk to raise money to buy equipment for young people with disabilities.
Having a form of cerebral palsy herself, Kaci learned to walk when she was four, needing a walker until she was able to move unsupported at the age of six.
As such, a five-mile walk was a challenging undertaking for Kaci – but she was determined to do so, to help children who might otherwise not have had access to equipment they needed.
Originally setting her goal at £150, Kaci ended up raising £5,000 with her sponsored walk, making it possible to help at least three families.
Hermione Hibberd: Hermione was nominated after coming to the aid of a young man and most likely saving his life.
While out on Sunday, June 26 Hermione found a man in his 20s lying on the ground.
When she turned him over, she found that his complexion was purple, and he looked extremely unwell.
Running to a neighbour, Hermione got them to call an ambulance, and the neighbour performed CPR on the man as they waited for it to arrive.
The paramedics told Hermione that if it had not been for her quick response, the man may have died.
Rivelle Roberts: Despite only being eight years old, Rivelle has shown herself to have a big heart, and a strong desire to help the less fortunate.
Over the Christmas period, Rivelle dressed up as an elf and went around her neighbourhood asking for donations.
She did this so she could donate the money to the New Parks Adventure Playground food bank – and buy a treat for everyone who received a food parcel.
As a result of Rivelle’s hard work and generosity, her local Morrisons awarded her the title of Little Sunshine as part of a campaign recognising young people who helped their community during the pandemic.
HEALTHCARE HEROES Sponsored by F2 Medical Supplies
Leicestershire and Rutland Blood Bikes: The not-for-profit organisation provides a vital service to NHS hospitals and the Air Ambulance Service in Leicestershire.
Made up entirely of volunteers, the charity delivers blood, medicine, medical equipment, biopsies and maternity notes among other things – all free of charge.
Leicestershire and Rutland Blood Bikes is active every day, providing its services from 7pm to 7am on weekdays and 24 hours a day across weekends, although during the pandemic this has increased to roundthe-clock cover.
Responding to more than 1,000 calls a year, the charity is an invaluable asset to the Leicestershire and Rutland communities.
LPT Healthy Together School Nursing teams: The teams are dedicated to preserving the health and wellbeing of schoolchildren across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Nurses provide a variety of safeguarding services, carrying out health assessments and offering support or referrals to specialist services as necessary, to ensure school children receive the help they need.
The demand for such a figure increased during the pandemic, with many children and young people needing support with their mental and physical health.
School nurses provided resources and consultations to help students understand and identify their needs, before working to help tackle the issues effectively.
Often the only professional a school child would interact with face-to-face during the pandemic, school nurses were a vitally important presence in understanding and aiding the health of young people during such a difficult time.
Each of our finalists has shown themselves to be truly deserving of a place at the awards, and we cannot wait to celebrate them on Thursday. For more, visit: