Best of Wearside Awards: Do you know a hero who deserves an award? Here's how to nominate them

Last year's award winners - but who will follow in their footsteps?

The Best of Wearside Awards are launched today and what a great opportunity it is for you to unveil the people who make a difference in your neighbourhood.

It’s your chance to pay tribute to everyone from courageous children to fantastic fundraisers.

We are now into an incredible 16th year of the awards and we are hoping to make 2020 the biggest year yet for nominations.

We want you to flood us with entries. It could be anything from Wearside’s Student of the Year to a community champion who has gone to extraordinary lengths to help others.

It might be someone who is great at sport, an individual who has made a difference in their neighbourhood, a child of achievement or child of courage.

Take a look at the list of categories and the criteria below, and decide which best suits your cause.

And then simply follow the instructions on how to enter.

This year’s competition has backing from headline sponsor BGL, partner sponsor Utility Alliance, partner sponsor Gentoo, and category sponsor Marelli.

We thank them all for getting on board, and now comes your turn to get involved.

We hope you will inundate us with entries and make the job of the judges that much harder.

Take a look at the categories, read the entry instructions, and your favourite cause will be a step closer to hopefully winning a Best of Wearside title.

THE CATEGORIES

:: Community Group of the Year.

:: Student of the Year.

:: Green Champion of the Year.

:: Child of Courage.

:: Child of Achievement.

:: Young Voice of Wearside.

:: Fundraiser of the Year.

:: Volunteer of the Year.

:: Sporting Achievement of the Year.

:: Community Champion Award.

HOW TO NOMINATE

To nominate, just send your name, address and telephone number, as well as your email address, if applicable. Remember to include the category you are putting your nominated cause into.

Also send the name of the person you wish to nominate, along with their address, telephone number and email (if known).

Send all of that to Lynn Wild by no later than March 2. Judging of all the entries will be held that same week with the finale at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday, April 1.

There are three ways to nominate.

:: Email those entries to [email protected].

:: Post them to Lynn Wild, North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC), Wearfield Enterprise Park East, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR5 2TA.

:: Visit the website at https://www.bestofwearside.co.uk.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Once we pass the competition deadline, the panel of judges will meet days later to draw up this year’s shortlist of contenders.

Those who are still in the running will learn their fate at the glittering grand finale on Wednesday, April 1.

After the event, we’ll bring you a colour supplement with photographs and interviews from the night.

But for now, the main thing is to get those entries in!