Zoom to the rescue - Town Award winners

A panel of judges from both organisations met via Zoom to discuss the fantastic range of shortlisted finalists spread across 13 categories and after much deliberation the winners can now be announced.

Mayor of Sleaford, Coun Anthony Brand, along with Deputy Mayor, Coun Robert Oakes, will join The Standard’s News Editor Andy Hubbert to present the awards on behalf of sponsors at convenient locations over the coming days and the presentations are expected to be videoed to appear on the newspaper’s website and Facebook page in due course.

Coun Brand thanked all panellists for their input, saying: “Inevitably it was challenging, but I believe that we arrived at valid decisions.

“It is a privilege and a challenge being a member of the group selecting the Sleaford Town Awards. Once again we had a shortlist of highly supported nominees. Of the various awards we had individuals at a young age acting as carers. Groups of young people active in the wider community. Plus others supporting the environment and engaging in charitable activities.

“It was not easy to arrive at our final list of awards when there were so many equally meritorious claims. We spent some time reviewing the outcomes and the group decided that as Town Mayor I could additionally make two Special Awards.”

Sleafordian of the Year is Lee Taylor, for his months of work securing a Post Office for the town.

Young Sleafordian of the Year are four teenage volunteer helpers with the Sleaford Laffletics Club for disabled children - Jess Dexter, Harry Brooke, Hayden Byers and Joscelyn Siddy.

The Community Award goes to Sleaford Be Litter Free, the Facebook campaigners trying to make the town a clean and tidy place with regular litter picks.

Young Community Volunteer Award went to Tobias and Arabella Shaw for their support for elderly and isolated residents in the community.

The Environmental Award went to Anthea Ashmore for her years of service, who for more than 20 years has been secretary of the Sleaford group of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Carer of the Year was won by young Leo Ridley who is a full-time carer for both his parents due to his father’s ill-health and his mum being wheelchair-bound.

Charitable Activity of the Year went to Sleaford Community Larder for its sterling efforts supporting families struggling to put food on their tables, particularly during the pandemic.

The Overcoming Adversity Award went to Joe Colehouse, a 21-year-old with cerebral palsy who has become the latest driver to join Team BRIT, an inspirational motorsport team for people with disabilities to compete.

Employer of the Year is Grunwald UK, which has run science and engineering experience days at the town’s secondary schools as well as mentoring teams in a competition to inspire the next generation of engineers.

Sports Team of the Year is the St George’s Academy Green Power Team, who are the third best team in the world having built and raced their own green energy vehicles.

Sports Coaches of the Year were Matt Evans and Kerry Swarbrooke who have set up and led the town’s Junior Park Run.

Sports Individual of the Year goes to Stephen Morgon who is the passionate founder and leader of walking football group Sleaford Academicals.

Finally, the Young Sports Individual of the Year is footballer Lottie Wells, who plays for Doncaster Belles and trains with the England juniors.

Mayor’s Special Awards go to Rainbow Stars support hub for special needs children; and Ringrose Law for the fundraising efforts of their staff.