Judges ready with honours short-list

JUDGES have been painstakingly reading all the nominations and have reached their conclusions for the Devon Community Honours.

The shortlist will be announced shortly after judges, which included Roger Croad, Christine Fraser, Jim Parker, Judi Spiers, Rosalie Robinson, Tony Parker and Richard Booth looked at categories which included Good Neighbour, Young Heroes (u18), Armed Forces and Emergency Services Honour, Volunteer of the Year Honour, Caring Communities Champion, Devon Carer, Devon Mentor, Environment Champion, Community Hero (18+), Voluntary or Community Sector Champion and a DevonLive Special Recognition Honour.

Nominated by the public and journalists at the Mid Devon Gazette, North Devon Journal, Express and Echo and Herald Express, nominees will come from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over Devon.

A spokeman for the awards said: “Their achievements are awe-inspiring and a lesson to us all. They say they are ordinary people, but their acts are extraordinary. This event is honouring people who have gone above and beyond to do good for their community, most of the time without any recognition or reward. Devon has always produced a great many community-minded individuals and we’ve been proud to share their campaigning and fundraising success stories over the years but, these days, with more cuts to services, we rely on these generous volunteers even more. We were overwhelmed by a great number of entries across all categories so we can show these individuals and groups that we recognise their sacrifices and achievements and are overjoyed to be able to say thank you.”

The headline sponsor this year is Devon County Council and cabinet member for communities Roger Croad, who is also one of the judges was delighted to be involved.

He said: “DCC is proud to sponsor the Devon Community Honours for the second year running and very happy to work once again with DevonLive to help put the spotlight on those people at the heart of our communities who work so tirelessly for the benefit of others every day. Devon is truly fortunate to have so many strong communities with people prepared to stand up and show they care by giving their time and energy to make this a better place.”

The awards take place at RHS Garden Rosemoor, Torrington, on December 6 from 3pm-6pm and tickets are now available at http://devonhonours.co.uk/event/tickets/