The town says big thank you to its civic winners

Virtual awards recognise those who ‘went the extra mile’ for the community

NEWBURY has honoured those helping to make the town a better place over the past year in its annual Civic Awards ceremony.

A virtual presentation to announce the winners took place on Wednesday last week and Mayor Elizabeth O’Keeffe said it was important to recognise those “who have gone the extra mile” during this unprecedented time.

She said: “The commitment from all nominees that has been given to supporting local people this year has been fantastic.

“Filming the presentation of the Civic Awards is something that the council has never done before. Almost a year after we went into our first national lockdown, it is too important to not miss giving recognition to those who have gone the extra mile for the community.”

Newbury Town Council’s Civic Pride, Arts and Leisure Committee chairwoman Jo Day said: “It has been a privilege to be involved in the judging of this year’s Civic Awards.

“Newbury is very fortunate to have so many people willing to give their time and energy working for the community.

“We select one nomination in each category to be a winner, but each one is worthy of our appreciation and praise.”

Eve Hughes was named the winner of The Newbury Town

Civic Award 2021, for her work in two voluntary roles – one as a street pastor and one as an advocate for Action for Children.

She has been a street pastor since the scheme was introduced in Newbury in 2012 and has dedicated a Saturday night almost every month since then.

More recently she has become a trustee for the charity.

She has also volunteered as an advocate for Action for Children’s local Here4Me service for more than eight years.

Her nomination said “her service and ongoing contribution to the town has made such a positive difference to so many children, young people and local residents in Newbury and the surrounding areas”.

Judith Colby was highly commended in this category for her work with Newbury Lions

Santa Sleigh visits and as a responsible adult for young offenders.

The Newbury Town Business Civic Award was presented to Colline Watts, from Colline’s Kitchen.

During the pandemic the businesswoman, who runs a catering business and café, worked closely with the West Berkshire Baby Bank to create the Parent 2 Parent Pandemic Fund, which helped ensure families weren’t going without food.

Her nominator said Colline should be celebrated for “making Newbury and the world a better place”.

In this category Peter Lumber was highly commended for shifting his 137 gin distillery production into making hand sanitiser for local services.

Ellie Chadwick was crowned the Newbury Town Young Persons Civic Award winner this year.

Seventeen-year-old Ellie is a vocalist with VoxFresh and last year she wrote the arrangement for the group’s performance of Over The Rainbow, which paid tribute to the NHS and raised more than £1,000 for NHS Charities Together.

Her nominator said Ellie was “an inspiring role model to younger members of the group”.

The winner of the Newbury Town Environmental Contribution

Award was Susan Millington.

Dr Millington has been the driving force behind the Newbury Friends of the Earth’s Lockdown Woods project, which has seen three new areas of woodland planted throughout West Berkshire.

Her nominator said that Susan’s role has been “central to the project and deserves the recognition for the work she has put into the project, which has brought many members of the community together to make a positive and lasting difference”.

The 2021 Civic Awards also took the opportunity to recognise individuals and organisations who contributed to the community in direct response to the Covid pandemic.

There was no overall winner and all nominees will receive a community pin badge in recognition of their services.

Community Champion recipients included ABC to Read; Julie Cobbett and Mai-Britt Gram Jensen for their voluntary work with Newbury Soup Kitchen; and Bev Lewis for her voluntary services with Newbury Community Resource Centre.

The award winners all received a congratulatory letter from the mayor of Newbury and have been invited to collect their physical award from the Town Hall once lockdown restrictions are eased.

“Newbury is very fortunate to have so many people willing to give their time and energy working for the community