The Midcounties Co-operative celebrates its first Member of the Year Awards
The Midcounties Co-operative has celebrated the winners of its first Member of the Year Awards at a ceremony hosted by TV naturalist and broadcaster Nick Baker.
Gay Goodall from Wallingford Oxfordshire was named overall Member of the Year and Ethical Member of the Year on 7 July in recognition of her work supporting young people with disabilities in the community and an education scheme for orphans in Kenya.
She and five other category winners were celebrated at an evening to showcase the achievements of 30 finalists. The winners were presented with bespoke awards and their prize is a volunteering trip to Africa to join in a community project.
Jo White from Cheltenham, a member of Co-operatives UK who is involved in a social enterprise and is founding chair of a local credit union, won the Active Member of the Year award. Alison Crane from Cheltenham was named Green Member of the Year for her work on environmental campaigns. She is also trying to set up an energy co-operative putting solar panels on communal buildings and sharing the energy.
The Community Member of the Year Award went to Carol Gibbon of Swindon for her fundraising and voluntary work. She currently chairs the town’s festival committee and helped establish three community cafes run by volunteers.
Ross Harrison, 19 from Witney, Oxfordshire, was named Young Member of the Year after producing a film and creating a website to inspire others to make a difference and help tackle climate change. His mother Sue collected the award on his behalf.
The Colleague Member of the Year was Gordon Monahan, also from Witney. As Manager of the Midcounties store in Old Town, Swindon, he leads the store’s fundraising and community work and is actively involved in supporting local organisations.
Di Bateman, Membership Manager, said: “It was a fantastic evening and gave us a chance to show our appreciation to the members who truly live the ideals of the Co-operative movement. There were really inspiring stories of people who demonstrated that we can make a positive difference to the local community and the wider world by working together.
“The quality of the entries was very high and the judges had a difficult job in choosing the winners. I want to congratulate all the finalists and thank everyone who took part.”
More than 100 people attended the evening at Hogarths Hotel, Solihull , West Midlands and enjoyed an after dinner speech by Nick Baker from the BBC’s ‘Really Wild Show’ and Channel 5’s ‘Weird Creatures’
You can view all the videos from the day on our You Tube Channel or view the round up video below.