Give thanks to the heroes who always put their community first
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Communities have very much been a focus since 2020, with services and activities that so many people rely on being largely stopped overnight.
But despite the immense challenges, those people providing community services and activities (a real lifeline for so many) have had to be innovative and work harder than ever to keep supporting those who rely on them. Highland Heroes 2022 aims to shine a light on those people, with two awards.
The community champion award will be given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to their community.
The volunteer of the year will be an individual who has been beyond generous in volunteering their time and talents to help others.
Sponsoring the community champion award is CityFibre.
Allan McEwan, CityFibre city manager for Inverness, said: “We are very pleased to be sponsoring the community champion award at the 2022 Highland Heroes awards. Currently we are working to deliver our £20 million city-wide full fibre network to almost every home and business in Inverness. During our work in the city, we have engaged with countless individuals and organisations that epitomise the fantastic sense of community spirit that is alive and well throughout the Highlands. We want to encourage people to come forward and nominate their community champions to ensure we can celebrate this spirit and reward the Highlands' unsung heroes.”
The volunteer of the year award is sponsored by Cairngorm Group.
Cairngorm Group joint managing director, Chris Dowling, said: “During the pandemic volunteering has come to the fore more than at any other point in recent times as people looked to help those around them. We are delighted to be sponsoring this award to recognise those who have gone the extra mile for their community.”
There are 14 main award categories:
- Brave child
- Volunteer
- Charitable organisation
- Fundraiser
- Carer
- Primary pupil
- Primary teacher
- Secondary pupil
- Secondary teacher
- Community champion
- School of the year
- Emergency services or armed forces hero
- Public servant
- Healthcare hero
Read about the awards for brave child of the year; primary school pupil and teacher of the year; and charitable organisation of the year.
Nominate any of your heroes at www.hnmedia.co.uk/highlandheroes
Nominations close on Friday, January 14.
Over the coming weeks, your favourite Highland News & Media (HNM) app, websites and newspapers will include special features about the categories along with all the details of how you can nominate individuals or organisations in your community.
Once all of your nominations have been submitted, our judging panel will create a shortlist which will then go before a public vote to choose the Highland Heroes 2022.
There is also a special award, hero of heroes, which will be chosen from the award winners and announced on the night of the awards ceremony. All of the awards will be presented at the glittering event at the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness on Thursday, March 24.
