County Durham honours its community champions

It was celebration time for 14 local champions who received County Durham's top award at County Hall.
Recipients of the Chairmans Medal at Durham County Council.Recipients of the Chairmans Medal at Durham County Council.
Recipients of the Chairmans Medal at Durham County Council.

The Chairman’s Medal was presented to individuals and organisations from throughout the county for their outstanding voluntary and charitable efforts.

The medal is awarded in recognition of services and is the highest honour Durham County Council can bestow.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They were handed over by the Chairman of Durham County Council, Councillor Jan Blakey, following nominations made to the 14 Area Action Partnerships.

Coun Blakey said: “Far too often there are unsung heroes in County Durham who do things for their community that can often go unnoticed.

“It’s wonderful that the Chairman’s Medal can reward them for this while at the same time highlighting their causes and bringing them to the public’s notice.

“As you can imagine, we had many outstanding nominations, and choosing a champion for each specific AAP proved extremely difficult.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“And I’ve got to stress that I am indebted to the independent panel of judges who helped make the final decisions.

“The nominations were of the highest quality, but decisions had to be made and after considerable soul searching the judging panel settled for what they believed to be the most worthy recipients.

“Everyone who was nominated should be incredibly proud of their achievements.”

The guest speaker at the event was Niall Hammond, from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Niall is an expert adviser and mentor to the Heritage Lottery Fund, a Member of the Institute for Archaeology and sits on both the National Trust’s Regional Advisory Board for Yorkshire and the North-East and their national Archaeology Panel.

The 14 champions are: Jean Graham (3 Towns Partnership); Lynn Jones and Norah Newby (4 Together Partnership); Shildon Dine and Dance Meet and Greet Group (Bishop Auckland and Shildon AAP); James Gustard (Chester-le-Street & District AAP); Ruth Harrison (Derwent Valley AAP); The Wood Pile (Durham City AAP); Parkside Community Centre volunteers (East Durham AAP); Ann Gething (East Durham Rural Corridor AAP); Anna Louise Swabey (Great Aycliffe and Middridge AAP); County Durham Socialist Clothes Bank (Mid Durham AAP); Janet Barrett (Spennymoor AAP); Margaret and John Wears (Stanley AAP); The Association of Teesdale Day Clubs (Teesdale AAP); Jean Proud (Weardale AAP).

Another 14 awards are to be distributed at County Hall, this time to recognise the achievements of young people – the County Durham Young Person’s Chairman’s Medal.

She said: “We are blessed in County Durham by having so many outstanding young people.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Their sterling efforts and determination benefit so many people, and I want to reward them by showing that we do recognise the outstanding work that they do.”

Meningitis survivor, the inspirational Lyndon Longhorne from Crook, is the guest speaker.