May 19, 2014

 

Outstanding Citizens Honoured

 

The individuals and groups who make a massive difference to the community of the Rochford District were honoured at a gala ceremony at the Freight House on Friday night (16th May).

 

Each year Rochford District Council asks for nominations from the community for the Citizen of the Year Awards, which are held to recognise and acknowledge residents in our District for their valuable hard work and outstanding achievements.

 

At the special gala evening the Chairman presented the Citizen of the Year award as well as honouring the winners in three other categories:-

· Young Citizen

· Charitable Support and

· Community Spirit

 

Earlier this year, the Judging Panel had been inundated with entries and read exceptional stories from nominees of all ages who contribute to our community in lots of different ways.  The judges read a number of nominations about youngsters who work hard at school and are an inspiration to their peers, others who help out at a very local level, supporting neighbours, friends and those in need as well as those who dedicate their time to charitable work and voluntary organisations.  

 

The overall winner of the Citizen of the Year Award was Martin Butler. Martin is an active member of Hawkwell Baptist church and spends a lot of time working with young people. He is also known for helping a football team of ex-offenders to join a local league. On top of this, he finds time to fundraise for various charities, helps out with the Boys’ Brigade and Youth Club, and in 2012 he started a youth group for children from church families and their friends called TLC (which stands for The Lord’s Crew).

Mr Butler, 52,  who lives in Rochford and works at Kingswood Junior School, in Basildon, said: “'It was, to say the least, a complete surprise to receive the award.  I am sure there are far more deserving people than myself.”

 

The winner of the Young Citizen of the Year award went to Luke Polley, aged 13, from Rayleigh. Luke was nominated for his fundraising for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.   He was born on the 11 November and was in fact 11 on the 11th of the 11th 2011, so the Poppy Appeal has always been something he has always felt an attachment to and has always helped sell poppies at school.

During the 2012 Appeal, Luke noticed that celebrities on TV were wearing jewelled Poppies.   He thought he could raise more money by doing his own version of these, by decorating some poppies at home to sell at school for the 2013 Appeal.

His school, Fitzwimarc School, Rayleigh, agreed to this and provided him with a box of Poppies to decorate. He started by decorating 150 Poppies, some with glitter and some with gems and asked for a suggested donation of £1.These sold out in the first lunchtime!    

So, Luke started on producing more, which proved so popular, that every day they were selling out, and demand was outstripping supply. It took a lot of time and effort to produce these in such a large quantity, that he spent most of his October half-term making more, including many evenings as well.

In the end, he produced in excess of 800 Poppies in just over a two week period which raised an incredible amount of £1,301.71, this was 92% of the total amount that The Fitzwimarc School raised for the Appeal.

The Royal British Legion was so impressed with his efforts that they awarded him a Special Certificate of Appreciation for his Outstanding Fundraising.

 

The winner of the Charitable Support Award was Janet Fox. Janet is the founder of the charity, Hopeworx, which is supported by the Lighthouse Furniture Project. Hopeworx is a reuse centre.  Donations of unwanted furniture and electrical goods are collected and sold at a low cost to those who cannot afford to buy new they also work with the ELF scheme associated with social services and donations are given to those who have suffered misfortune, such as homelessness or house fires.

Janet has also organised a food bank where donations of every day essential items are made, in order to provide food parcels for those in need.

 

The winner of the Community Spirit Award was Lawrence Cantle.  In 1994 Lawrence had a vision to create somewhere for the many young people of Rayleigh to go and over the years he has largely been the driving force in creating a centre that is not only a very valuable resource for young people, but also for people of all ages within the wider community.   

In the beginning, supported by the Active Christian Trust, Mega Centre was established consisting of a Youth Centre, together with a Megazone, Laser Arena, that brought in most of the income to support the centre.

Lawrence, together with the other trustees, had to battle through many challenges to keep the Centre running.   However, it wasn’t too long before the freehold was purchased using grants and loans again, largely generated through Lawrence’s perseverance.

Over the years, many further resources have been added, including Megaplay, (a soft play area), a coffee shop, a recording studio and music practice rooms, a sports arena and meeting rooms, used by many varied organisations including older people and people with learning disabilities, a fully equipped theatre, cinema and the latest addition, a sensory room.

Many activities take place at the Centre, including an over-50s club, special needs groups, a Dad’s n Kids club, Strengthening Families programme as well as Youth Clubs and events.    

These activities have given people of all ages in the local community the chance to participate in a variety of events. In addition, the Centre has also provided many volunteering opportunities as well.

 

Rochford District Council’s Chief Executive, Amar Dave, said: “The Judging Panel had a very difficult job this year, the quality of the nominations was outstanding. From youngsters who work hard to make a difference in their community through to individuals who give up their spare time to help others, it was extremely difficult to pick winners in each category.I would like to congratulate the winners, but also say a huge thank you to all the other nominees who have achieved so much and contributed to a community spirit we can all be proud of.”

 

Martin Butler (Overall winner), Janet Fox (Charitable Support), Luke Polley (Young Citizen) and Lawrence Cantle (Community Spirit)