Keeping an eye out for community champions

A Rutherglen opticians is encouraging locals to nominate their community hero in the annual Sunday Mail Great Scot Awards.

Specsavers in the town is supporting this year’s prestigious awards, dubbed the People’s Oscars, which honour the incredible achievements of ordinary people across Scotland who are doing extraordinary things.

The optician is specifically celebrating the Community Champions category, which recognises individuals or groups who have shown incredible commitment to improving the lives of people in their local area.

From those who have tackled vandalism in their community, to people who have dedicated their lives to improving local facilities, Specsavers is taking nominations for the award via special post boxes in store.

Peter Beaton, store director at Specsavers in Rutherglen, said: “Supporting the local community is at the heart of what we do here in the Rutherglen store - from caring for the sight of people in the town, to supporting local causes through fundraising.

“Sponsoring the Community Champion award is a natural extension of this, and we can’t wait to see the suggestions that come in from local people. Nominating is really easy – just visit the store and ask any of our team for an entry form, which can be filled in and popped into our special post box.

“We’re thoroughly looking forward to finding some true Great Scots from right here in Rutherglen.”

Nominations must be made by Monday, September 7. For more information on the awards, visit www. greatscotawards.co.uk.

The overall award winners will be announced at a starstudded awards ceremony hosted by newspaper columnist and newsreader Jackie Bird in the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow on October 17.

The event attracts an array of celebrity guests and also honours favourite faces from the worlds of music, film, TV, business and sport.