Community Awards 2022

The judging panel chose Darren Callis as Volunteer of the Year 2022. 

• Darren is volunteer Head Coach at Blaby District Spartans Inclusive Football Club
• It is a football club specifically for players aged 16+ who have a variety of different needs ranging such as Cerebral Palsy, ADHD, Downs Syndrome, Social Anxiety, Severe Asthma, Autism, Epilepsy and Hearing Impairment 
• This nomination was made by a young man who is a member of the club and it really spoke volumes to the judging panel: "I was struggling to find a football club. I have only come into the club this year and Darren went out of his way to coach me and made me feel good and happy to play football. Darren made me believe, even with a disability, I can play football and have fun. There is no-one like him."
• Beth Russell, Club Secretary also said: "Darren has been at the club since 2020. It would mean the world to Darren to know one of his players has nominated him. He sees the person not the disability first, treating members as footballers, not 'footballers with a disability'"

Christine was chosen as runner-up Volunteer of the Year 2022 and received multiple nominations. 

• Christine is clearly very well known in her local community volunteering regularly for Whetstone Good Neighbour Scheme, Blaby Mind Matters and raising money through events and other fundraising activities for numerous local charities
• Her role with the Good neighbours scheme involves helping the elderly by taking them shopping or to social events, delivering items during Covid as well as providing companionship to those who are lonely and vulnerable
• To directly quote a couple of comments from the nominations: "Christine is a real star – a carer beyond compare – who gives freely and wholeheartedly her time, because she truly cares about other people’s needs" and "to honour Christine with an award would be a fitting thank you from the community that she truly serves. Quite frankly she is an angel, full of kindness and I feel privileged to know her"

The judges chose Kiya Kanani as their Young Volunteer of the Year 2022.

• Kiya raised an incredible £35k for childhood cancer awareness and led a student assembly to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer
• She has organised fundraising activities for other charitable causes as well, including to support Ukranian families joining her school
• She is described as "inspiring her peers to be better than they thought they could be and has overcome her own personal struggles: her will to support others by raising funds is truly inspirational and makes everyone want to be a better person"

Maya was chosen as runner-up Young Volunteer of the Year 2022.

• Maya has been a student house leader for two years, as well as a Stephen Lawrence ambassador
• She has been regularly fundraising and sorting donations for Ukrainian families
• Maya is also an ambassador for positive body image and uses social media to help other teenagers embrace their bodies, as well as having written a book with her mum on this issue

Receiving the most public votes, Epworth Forest Juniors Football Club was voted Community Group of the Year 2022.

• Based in Leicester Forest East, the club welcomes players from five years of age
• The club has a focus on providing girls with a platform to play football and develop their confidence, removing barriers to girls taking part in sport
• Over 25 volunteers help to run the club's 17 teams at the moment… and it’s still growing!
• They have the largest girls' section within the district with over 180 players across 15 girls' teams
• The club delivers over 400 hours per week of active playing time across its members/coaches and opposition teams
• They are a registered Weetabix Girls Wildcats Centre
• Their ethos is that football has the power to build and maintain self-esteem, alongside keeping fit, making friends and having fun
• The club also supports their wider community as they helped fundraise to install a defibrillator at their base, Stafford Leys primary school

Here is what Leighton Shields and Nick Maston from the club told us:

"Epworth Forest Juniors FC was established in 1989 to give local boys the opportunity to play football, which followed with the girls' teams in 2021. Our Chairman/Secretary Gavin Lepley is an asset to our club and the community. Nothing is too much trouble for him, including early starts at the club to mark the lines on the pitch and complete any required maintenance work. Epworth Forest Juniors FC wanted to nominate him for Volunteer of the year, however he wanted the group to be recognised rather than himself.

As a club we are committed to help girls and boys within the local communities become more physically active. Our ethos is that football has the power to build and maintain self-esteem, alongside keeping fit, making friends, and having fun. Enjoying football in the true spirit of the game, sportsmanship and skills development are all provided within a welcoming and supportive environment.

We are extremely focused to help all girls develop confidence and competence to play football at school and in a community setting, removing all barriers to girls taking part in the sport. The club is also proud to have achieved the requirements to receive the accredited club status from the English Football Association.

Over the last 12 months, we are pleased to have delivered over 20 thousand hours of active play time which is more than 930 full days. In this period, we are very proud to currently have the largest girls’ sections within Blaby District, with an amazing 15 girls' teams across the age of 5 – 13 years old, training and playing each week with over 180 registered players.

We would like to say a huge thank you to more than 25 volunteers who commit their free time every week to our club. This dedication by all has seen us increase our football team numbers from 7 in 2015 to 17 today! We are delighted to confirm we are currently preparing to increase this next season to 20 teams.

We also take pride in supporting various schools and other community clubs around the district through community bookings for paid use of their facilities and fund-raising events, including helping to raise funds to have a defibrillator installed at Stafford Leys Primary School. With this in mind, we would like to congratulate the great work currently being done by all the community groups and would like to support the great work Enderby Mission Food Bank are doing by donating £200 of our prize money.

Finally, we would like to say thank you to Blaby District Council for putting on a great event and to everyone who voted for us! We really do appreciate your support and community spirit. If you would like to get involved with the Community Group of the Year, we are always looking for volunteers to help us with maintenance and coaching. We currently have a total of 15 coaches, with only two of these being female! We would love to have more female coaches involved, if it is something you are interested in, please get in touch! We have roles suitable for everyone. You can contact us by emailing epworthforestgirlsfc@gmail.com"

The public voted Gather Create Grow as the runner-up Community Group of the Year 2022. This is the organisation behind the Cosby Yarn Bomb.

• Melanie and Natalie (group founders) are described as 'two people with great artistic imagination'
• Many of you will know them best for their amazing displays around Cosby in the Summer, as well as other times of the year such as Halloween, Christmas and royal anniversaries/events
• Gather Create Grow is about more than this: the group was born out of an understanding of how damaging loneliness can be to well-being and how important a sense of belonging is for mental health
• Gather Create Grow is a key group in their local community: supporting the well-being of residents of all ages and abilities, by running groups and events, getting everyone involved and bringing the local community together