Pride of Stevenage Awards - 2022 winners announced

Our mayor, local dignitaries, business leaders and residents gathered on Saturday 29 October at the Gordon Craig Theatre for the annual Pride of Stevenage Awards ceremony to see a number of local heroes honoured.

The winners were revealed by Leader of the Council, Sharon Taylor, at an event hosted by the mayor, Cllr Margaret Notley and compered by Stevenage FC match day announcer, Jay Drackford.

Prizes were handed out across eight categories - Dedication, Green, Team, Caring, Sporting, Enterprise, Young Star, and the Judges’ Special award. Austin’s Family Funeral Directors were this year’s main awards sponsor, and the winners were:

Dedication Award – Errol John, who regularly volunteers to help the people of Stevenage and members of our ethnically diverse communities.

Green Award – Camps Hill Primary School, an eco-friendly school with numerous green initiatives including recycling, battery and crisp packet collection points and an Eco-Council made up of students.

Team Award (Sponsored by Co-Space) – Diamond Silver Service support local autistic, disabled and challenged children and helps elderly and disabled residents of Stevenage too. Their travel service offers buses with rear lifts and accommodates wheelchairs.

Caring Award (Sponsored by Fosters Legal Solicitors) – Su Harvey set up The Red Shed Project to help Alzheimer’s sufferers and their carers.

Sporting Award – Lauren Cooper, a teacher who organises sport fundraisers for charities. She ensures every student has learned how to restart a heart.

Enterprise Award (Sponsored by biz4Biz) – Izabela Stuchlik owner of Leavened Bakery in Stevenage Indoor Market in the town centre.

Young Star Award (Sponsored by: Tollers Solicitors) - The cheerleaders from Camps Hill Primary School. The squad, who are aged 7 -11 years old, enjoy raising money for charity.

Judge’s Special Award – Paul Laidlaw who played the Panto Dame in Stevenage for 27 years bringing joy and laughter to Stevenage residents.

Councillor Sharon Taylor, Leader of Stevenage Borough Council, and chair of the judges enthused: “These special awards allow us to pay tribute, once a year, to a few of our local heroes – people and organisations that enhance the lives of hundreds of people all over Stevenage every day.

Ours is a great town and there are fantastic things going on here. Some pretty amazing people are making things happen, making things better, and making a real difference to Stevenage life.

I’d like to thank this year’s sponsors, Austin’s Family Funeral Directors, headline sponsor of this year’s Pride Awards, Fosters Legal Solicitors the sponsor of the Caring award, biz4Biz the sponsor of the Enterprise award, Co-Space the sponsor of the Team award and Tollers Solicitors the sponsor of the Young Star award.

Thanks also go to Craig Maret, director of Rewind who made the Pride of Stevenage Awards 2022 films and the Gordon Craig Theatre venue team for their help to host this year’s awards event.

I would like to also thank the judges for giving up their time to choose our winners; Paige Abrey - Stevenage youth mayor, Claire Austin from Austin’s Family Funeral Directors, Elaine Connolly from Irish Network, Sandra Foster from Fosters Legal Solicitor, Dan Gaze, a former Pride award winner, Ian Taylor from biz4Biz, Darren Isted from Spitfire PR and William Stokes from Co-Space.”