THE HUNT is on for local heroes who have helped get the county moving over the past year.
The ninth Get Berkshire Active Awards are now open for nominations, with a particular focus on those who have helped encourage physical activity during lockdown.
Organisers say that celebrating victories big and small and recognising community champions has become more important than ever.
And instead of its 12 traditional categories, this year’s awards will be just one: The Berkshire physical activity lockdown hero. The nomination can be for any size, organisation, charity, club, community group, school or an individual (aged 11 upwards) that has positively impacted others through physical activity and sport in Berkshire during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Get Berkshire Active has also launched #MoveWithUsBerkshire, a campaign highlighting the importance and benefits of physical activity.
It will also raise awareness of the importance of physical activity in fighting the worst effects of Covid-19 and help those groups and individuals dis-proportionally impacted by the pandemic to get active to support their physical and mental wellbeing.
Brett Nicholls, CEO of Get Berkshire Active, said: “Now more than ever we need to celebrate and recognise those amazing people and organisations that make sport and physical activity happen in Berkshire.
“Being physically active is a fantastic medicine but it is not always easily available to people. Therefore, those that help others to be active deserve our respect and recognition”.
And one of this year’s winner was the Me2Club, which is based in Woodley. The charity’s spokesperson, Liz McDaniel, said: “It was an amazing privilege to have been included in this event and to have the opportunity to bring the work of the Me2 Club charity to the attention of so many more people.
“Winning the Youth Engagement Project was a fantastic achievement for a small team who work so hard to ensure that young people with additional need and disabilities have the same opportunities to get involved in physical activities as their mainstream peers.”
Mike Diaper, a senior representative from Sport England who attended and presented the Youth Engagement Award in February 2020 said “I really enjoyed the awards and was very impressed by the quality of the nominations and winners.
“They really showcased the difference sport and physical activity can make and indeed the excellent work the active partnership [GBA] does day in and day out.”
Closing date for nominations is Tuesday, December 15, and the panel will shortlist the nominees on January 5 next year, with the winners announced in February.
For more details or to nominate, log on to getberkshireactive.org
