On Wednesday 5th July the latest Citizens 4 Good awards took place at Bootle Town Hall. 17 Sefton residents were awarded certificates from the Mayor of Sefton, Councillor June Burns, for doing good deeds in their local community.

The awards recognises and rewards people who have gone above and beyond to help others or the environment around them.

The nominees were:

Olena, Eva and Olga

For the fantastic contribution they made to the Eurovision event in Bootle which showcased the Ukrainian culture to the local community. As a team they were responsible for presenting the performance in both the English and Ukranian languages and for putting together a fortnight long exhibition which displayed national heroes, local crafts and very poignant film footage. As part of a small group, they also put many hours in designing, developing and delivering the two hour show, which had over 100 performers including at least 50 Ukranian dancers and singers. They managed this on top of their busy working and college lives here and a very full schedule for the Eurovision week in the City Region.

Sam, Daniel, John, Oliver, Adam and Abbie

For founding the Jacob Billington Trust in 2022 which does incredible work to raise funding for young people’s music education in Sefton. Fundraising is part of their key aim to create a legacy for their friend Jacob who tragically lost his life when he was only 23 and who was a very talented and gifted musician.

In this short time they have achieved a tremendous amount including gaining a huge degree of community support across Merseyside, setting up and becoming a registered charity (which is not easy) and raising over £16,000 for music lessons. Events they put on sell out quickly and are beautifully put together. It’s obvious that each Trustee has a clear and defined role, whilst at the same time being very supportive of keeping the charitable events going smoothly and being fun and enjoyable for everyone.The nominees are genuine, kind, and truly dedicated.

Lucinda and Louise

Founders of The Cupboard Network.  In January 2021, they started a little fight against food waste project in Whitby called Whitby Community Cupboard.  This lead them to form The Cupboard Network and they now have cupboards all across the country from Southport to Yeovil. The Cupboards are available for ALL, and are FREE regardless of household income or situation and operate on a self-serve basis.

During COVID lockdowns and now due to rising costs, more and more working families were and are really struggling. These families often go under the radar, do not meet the requirements set by local authorities and can find themselves in food poverty, on a short or long term basis. The network collect surplus food from various businesses and the Cupboards are operated on an entirely voluntary basis. Cupboard hosts offer a place on their properties for The Cupboard to sit and food collections are managed by the host together with a team of dedicated volunteers.

Denese

Denese is a volunteer and a trustee for Home-Start Southport and Formby. In April 2022 Home-Start started a ‘Family group’ targeting families that had babies born during the Covid pandemic. Denese is a retired early years practitioner and volunteered to run the group from the Salvation Army HQ in Southport. Denese sets up the room and provides stimulating activities for the under 2’s, story time and a music and rhyme session. The Home-Start staff encourage and escort families along to the group until they feel confident to come alone. Denese does all the co-ordination of the group and gives the families a fun filled hour and half every Tuesday morning. Without Denese the group would not have been the amazing success it is, with around 30 people attending each week.

John and Frances

For their support of Coronation Park, having been lead volunteers for over 15 years.  They always put others before themselves. Both contribute to lots of work with young families both in the park and via fostering for many years. They are also part of St Michaels church and support other members going through hard times. Additionally, John and Frances ran Macmillian events and hosted foreign students. John is a bell ringer and Frances involved in WI. They always go out of their way to help and support the local community.

Mollie, Michelle and Michael

From Active Minds Day Centre. Michelle, a mum of 3 very young children, was also a full time carer for her Dad for over 3 years, juggling the home, her kids and her dad who sadly passed away in November last year. Since then Michelle has continued to champion and advocate for people with Dementia. She is now the Ambassador for Active Minds Centre, a vital role. She is always fund raising to support the centre, will come along and help out on busy days, attends events raising awareness and works enthusiastically to help people Live Well with Dementia.

Described by her manager as “an amazing member of the staff team and an asset to Active Minds Day Centre. Mollie is a selfless individual who works extremely well with our members with Dementia. She is a ray of sunshine and is always such a happy individual who loves working with the elderly. Mollie is an extremely good cook and baker and turns out some amazing food for our members who thoroughly enjoy their meals and never fail to compliment Mollie.

Michael is a very hard working individual who goes above and beyond his call of duty. He is a very valuable member of the team who is responsible for the transport of elderly members taking them to and from the centre on a daily basis. The feedback from the families regarding his approach, care, love and respect for their loved ones has always been commended. His reliability and dedication to this important service is vital as without his help many vulnerable people would not be allowed to leave home and would be isolated.

Louise and Phoenix

For volunteering for South Park Community garden, Derby Park Community Volunteers and Taking Root in Bootle, all while working part time and being a mum to Pheonix. Phoenix also volunteers during her school holidays. Louise has thrown her heart and soul into the projectsy, whether it’s community gardening, litter picking, marshalling at community events, supporting Green Sefton with school visits to the park or making tea. Louise also created an educational booklet all about the history of the Poulsum memorial in Derby Park. This was given to children from Bedford primary to keep when they came on a visit and has now been placed in Bootle Library. Louise is reliable, friendly, warmhearted, supportive, makes you feel at ease and is always smiling. Louise always makes you feel welcome no matter what she is doing and will always stop for a chat and has a brilliant knowledge of plants which she generously shares with the community gardeners.

Thank you to everyone who nominated. To nominate for our next Citizens 4 Good awards in October, please complete the form on this page.