Supporting the voluntary sector
Volunteer awards 2008
More than 300 people turned up to a special event organised by the council and Wandsworth Volunteer Centre to pay tribute to the borough's volunteers.
The first ever Wandsworth Volunteer Awards aimed to promote volunteering in the borough and recognise people who have made an outstanding contribution to their community or organisation.
There were more than 150 nominations for the awards, and the winners were presented with their prizes at a glittering ceremony in the Wandsworth civic suite on 27th November.
Each volunteer did a significant amount for their organisation and the standard of entrants was exceptionally high. An independent panel of judges including deputy leader of the council Maurice Heaster, Kerry McQueeney from the Wandsworth Guardian, James Bank from Greater London Volunteering and Dr Mike Nussbaum from Volunteering England were faced with the tough task of choosing the winner for each category.
Entertainment was provided by Elliott School Jazz band, Valda Wilson and Alison Luz from the National Opera Studio and Ricochet Street Dance.
Waitrose Wandsworth sponsored the event and provided the food and drink, served by a team of scouts and guides.
The winners all received a crystal trophy plus John Lewis vouchers. Waitrose provided an iPod for the Young Volunteer of the Year and Young's Brewery donated a weekend for two in one of their hotels for the winners of the Judges' Special Award.
The awards winners were:
- Care Volunteer of the Year - Diana Plant, Thomas Pocklington Resource Centre
- Community Volunteer of the Year - Wayne Jennings, Volunteer Centre Wandsworth
- Environment Volunteer of the Year - Vicki Carroll, Wandsworth Environment Forum
- Sports Volunteer of the Year - Anita Russell, Dover House Lions FC
- New Volunteer of the Year - Vivienne Minto, Volunteer Reading Help
- Young Volunteer of the Year - Amanda Slater,Wandsworth Young Carer's Project, Katherine Low Settlement
- Team of the Year - South London Swimming Club
- Organisation of the Year - Family Action
- Lifetime Volunteer - Gunvantrai Shah, Brendoncare
- Judges Special Awards - Pete & Joan, Battersea Arts Centre
- Volunteer of the Year - Kitty Gilbert. Kitty volunteers at Battersea Children's Library, Earlsfield School Nursery, Honeywell Infant School and Tooting Childminders Support Group.
This short film, 'Making a Difference' was produced to be shown at the Volunteer Awards event to highlight the variety of volunteering opportunities in the borough. Copies are available if organisations would like to use it as a professional recruitment tool contact Ben Richardson at the Volunteer Centre on 020 8875 2849.
This video is streamed online. You will need Windows Media Player or a similar player to watch it.
