Do you ever see someone doing something amazing who is completely unrecognised, a real unsung hero?
Acknowledging achievement is a vital part of engendering a sense of community and encouraging the recipient to further and greater achievement. This is one of the core tenets of the Wiltshire Life Magazine Awards.
I was therefore delighted to be asked by the Proprietor of Wiltshire Life, Mark Allen, to be part of their Seventh Annual 2012 awards and to present the Community Group of the Year Award. I want to share this celebration and the recognise the achievements of the award winners with you.
Wiltshire Life is a magazine which covers all aspects of life in my County and through its pages helps to promote and support local business, culture and sport. The recipients of the awards varied from a former Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire who won the Life Time Achievement Award to a sixteen year old girl who skied to the South Pole in temperatures of minus 60 degrees and consequently won the Young Adventurer of the Year award.
The nominees in the 12 categories came from all over the county from a huge variety and diversity of backgrounds. It is truely inspiring to hear about a lady in her 80s who has worked for decades running a charity shop and to be told about a team of Royal Signals soliders providing support to the helicopter units in Afghanistan who organise a sponsored half marathon in Camp Bastion to raise over £2,000 for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.
The awards were hosted by the ebullient Sue Davies from BBC Radio Wiltshire whose witty delivery was punctuated by her engaging introduction of the award winners helping us to know and share their story.
I congratulate Wiltshire Life for taking this initiative and I thank them for the honour of including me in this celebration of amazing achievement by truly unsung heroes.
If you want to know more about Wiltshire Life or perhaps you would like to sponsor an award for 2013 you can find out more here. You can also contact Wiltshire Life Editor Claire Waring on 01722 717030 or by email claire.waring[at]markallengroup.co.uk or awards organiser Sarah White on 01722 717033 (email: sarah.white[at]markallengroup.co.uk)
The Full List of Finalists and Winners can be seen at here
