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That’s the Spirit of Salford
The Spirit of Salford Community Awards 2021
This year's awards paid tribute to people and public services that made a difference in Salford during the pandemic.
The winners were announced at a virtual ceremony hosted by City Mayor Paul Dennett and BBC presenter Emma Goswell.
Famous Salfordians Peter Hook, Catherine Tyldesley and Stephen Lord joined the ceremony to thank all our Salford heroes for their amazing work and praise the outstanding efforts of the finalists.
City Mayor Paul Dennett said
Winners of the awards
Chosen by the public
Citizen of the Year: Gemma Fish
Gemma from Walkden is the driving force behind Walkden and Little Hulton Step Into Action, a voluntary support group which has helped vulnerable Salford residents during the pandemic. Gemma has delivered thousands of leaflets to identify people who needed help and has provided food parcels and welfare packs.
Community Group of the Year: Salford Loaves and Fishes
Salford Loaves and Fishes is a charity that does tremendous work to help vulnerable people and reduce rough sleeping in Salford. During the pandemic they have distributed food parcels, clothing and other essential items and have provided vital space for rough sleepers to access NHS and support services.
Public Servant of the Year: Anthony Lord
Anthony from Eccles is a dedicated youth worker who works for Salford City Council. He works tirelessly to keep vulnerable children safe. Throughout the pandemic Anthony arranged for food parcels and arts and crafts activities to be delivered to families in Salford.
Winners of the awards
Chosen by the judges
Spirit of Salford Special Recognition Award: The Mask Project
Fifty volunteers recruited from Irlam, Cadishead and surrounding areas made 30,000 visors for frontline NHS workers at five north west hospitals including Salford Royal. They worked with Salford Royal Foundation Trust and the Hamilton Davies Trust.
Young Person of the Year: Joint winners: Westley Myerscough and Beth Pilling
Westley has overcome significant personal challenges, showing real determination to improve himself and develop his career. Westley found himself out of education and employment after he left school. Westley now works for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Beth from Worsley is in her final year of her adult nursing degree at the University of Salford. Throughout the pandemic, Beth has worked on the respiratory wards at Bolton General Hospital looking after patients with COVID-19. Beth has worked tirelessly to overcome personal challenges and has balanced all this with being a mum to her young daughter.
Volunteer of the Year: Joint winners: Alfrieda Kindon and Steve Finbow
Alfrieda has volunteered for over 40 years across Salford. She created Peel Green community rugby league club in 1980 which still uses sport to support vulnerable young people.
Steve from Higher Broughton is a volunteer co-ordinator for local food poverty charity, The Bread and Butter Thing, which delivered 80,000 meals to over 600 families during the pandemic and made regular welfare calls.
Best Health Achievement: GMCR Runners
This free to join running group helps over 900 people to stay active. During the pandemic they set online challenges and delivered food parcels to vulnerable residents.
Good Neighbour of the Year: Joint winners: Susan Hinder and Lynn Cullimore
Caring and supportive and always looking out for others, Sue has organised numerous neighbourhood events including litter picks for all ages.
Lynn raises funds for local charities and organises events with The Gilda Glee Club, a network of over 100 households in Eccles encouraging neighbours to look out for each other.
Best Environmental Improvement: Salford Litter Heroes
As well as regular litter picks, they educate others to reduce waste and eliminate litter. They make Salford a better place for everyone.
Best Community Safety Project: Taxis Transfers
The company has taken thousands of key workers and patients to medical appointments and COVID-19 testing centres, delivered meals to NHS staff and transported the COVID-19 home assessment nursing team all over the city.
The Spirit of Salford Community Awards 2021
The Spirit of Salford Community Awards recognised the people and public services who made a difference in Salford during the pandemic. All the finalists' incredible achievements were showcased in a fantastic virtual ceremony held on 4 March 2021 that is available to watch at www.spiritofsalfordawards.info/
The other finalists were:
Citizen of the Year:
Denise Green Denise runs the CONNECT community group in Eccles and does tremendous work to tackle social isolation.
Owen Power Owen is an outstanding citizen and a committed and valued community campaigner.
Community Group of the Year:
Europia Support and wellbeing programmes for EU nationals in Greater Manchester.
Salford Forum for Refugees and People Seeking Asylum Vital support to some of Salford’s most vulnerable people.
The Life Centre, Langworthy Supports families and has delivered weekly ‘Good Thoughts Bags’ through the pandemic.
Public Servant of the Year:
Cat Taylor, manager, ForHousing Cat has worked tirelessly to provide COVID-19 safe temporary housing for vulnerable people.
Colin Robinson, North West Ambulance Service Colin has volunteered to help relieve pandemic pressures on the NHS and worked hard to raise spirits in his local community.
George Blagden, manager, Beacon Youth Centre George supports young care leavers and young offenders back into work and goes above and beyond to ensure community access to the Beacon Centre.
Spirit of Salford Special Recognition category:
Beth Myring, Life Centre manager Beth has done outstanding work to tackle holiday hunger in Salford for several years. During lockdown Beth supported over 70 families every week.
Milk Aid Milk Aid, run by a husband and wife team, delivers food parcels in Salford, supporting vulnerable residents and helping tackle holiday hunger.
Salford Mutual Aid Coalition A community led network of individuals and organisations that has provided rapid response support for vulnerable people and families during the pandemic.
Young Person of the Year category:
Beck Vinton Beck is the youngest ever finalist at just ten years old. He worked with his family to fundraise and deliver food parcels to over 1,000 families during the pandemic.
Members of the Fight for Change Council A group of inspirational young people who work with health, education and social care services to develop better outcomes for looked after children.
Volunteer of the Year category:
Connor James Connor is volunteer Head of Events at Salford Pride and has supported and organised many inclusive events for the LGBT+ community of Salford.
Diane Hesford Diane has taken on many different voluntary roles to help the community in Irlam and Cadishead. During the pandemic Diane picked up shopping and prescriptions for vulnerable residents.
Good Neighbour of the Year category:
Nicola O’Neill Nicola is an inspiring, kind, and supportive neighbour who goes to great efforts to organise activities and help people living in her neighbourhood.
Keri Muldoon Keri does a tremendous amount to support her neighbours and contribute to the local area. Keri runs the Broughton flood group and keeps residents aware of issues with the River Irwell.
Best Health Achievement category:
Dancing with Dementia Dancing with Dementia enriches the lives of people living with dementia and provides vital support to their families and carers. The group has found new ways to support their community during lockdown.
Kimberley Bond Kim runs local Salford social enterprise Visit from the Stork, which helps parents of all ages by running schemes such as Be Open on Breastfeeding in Salford.
Mark Frith/Growing Togetherness Mark runs Growing Togetherness and helped to set up Incredible Edible in Salford championing the health and social benefits of community growing schemes.
Best Environmental Improvement category:
Friends of Parr Fold Park Friends of Parr Fold Park have worked consistently to improve their local park, raising funds to invest in equipment and improvements and running family events (pre-pandemic)
Project Shed The Project Shed team, part of Lower Kersal Young People and Community Group, work tirelessly to improve greenspace in Lower Kersal. They have transformed a large shed into a community hub for local people.
Salford Volunteer Rangers The Salford Volunteer Rangers have worked hard to improve prominent greenspaces in the city, including Peel Park and the gardens at Salford Civic Centre.
Wardley Gardeners Wardley Gardeners have worked tirelessly to bring colour to Wardley Park through an array of planting beds, borders and fantastic displays.
Best Community Safety category:
Salford Youth Justice and Together Housing Salford Youth Justice and Together Housing have worked hard to tackle hate crime by creating a powerful film to raise awareness of hate crime and how to report it.
Salford Independent Domestic Abuse Support Service Salford Independent Domestic Abuse Support Service provides extraordinary assistance to victims of domestic abuse and works tirelessly to support victims to safety.
Simon Mapp, Victim Support Simon Mapp works for Greater Manchester Police and has many years of experience in supporting victims of crime. Simon works hard to keep communities safe and support victims through incredibly tough times.
The awards were organised by Salford City Council. TalkTalk, Ladybird Private Day Nurseries, Salford City College Group, Social7, The Landing, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and Salix Homes sponsored the event.
Find out more about these fantastic groups and projects:
Salford Litter Heroes www.salfordlitterheroes.comThe Bread and Butter Thing www.breadandbutterthing.orgGMCR Runners groups.runtogether.co.uk/GMCRRunnersSalford Loaves and Fishes www.salfordloavesandfishes.org.uk
Walkden and Little Hulton Step into www.neighbourly.com/ project/5e980674c7ac8924442420a4
Taxis Transfers www.taxistransfers.co.uk
