Winners of Lincolnshire Sport & Physical Activity Awards have been announced

The winners of the Lincolnshire Sport & Physical Activity Awards have been announced.

This year's awards evening was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton on Thursday evening.

Organised by Active Lincolnshire and headline sponsored by Lincoln Water Park, the awards, now in their 17th year, recognise the positive impact physical activity has on people’s lives, and celebrate those who actively contribute to the health and wellbeing of Lincolnshire residents.

In front of an audience of local businesses, friends and family, nine winners were recognised for their positive impact and contribution to sport and physical activity.

A total of 27 finalists attended the evening and were recognised in nine categories at the awards evening, hosted by BBC Radio Lincolnshire presenters Rob Makepeace and Carla Greene.

The Active Community Award, sponsored by Lincoln Big, was awarded to Billingborough Community Gym for the support provided to their local community.

The Billingborough Community Gym is entirely staffed by volunteers, and since opening in 2013 has completed more than 400 inductions, and trained several members of the community to become Level 2 Gym Instructors.

Any profits made are put back into the facility to purchase, improve and service equipment.

The Contribution to Sport & Physical Activity, sponsored by Magna Vitae, was a hotly contested category, and the judges faced some exceptionally difficult decisions.

Businessman Dan Hone, founder of Active Arena, and Roger Michie of Active Nation, were joint recipients of the 2021 Contribution to Sport & Physical Activity Award.

The award gives recognition to someone, or a group of individuals, who have gone above and beyond to continue to provide sport and/or physical activity to support to benefit the health and wellbeing of an individual or group of individuals.

Active Arena opened in August 2020 and the owner Dan Hone, a former Lincoln City FC player, worked tirelessly to ensure that the surrounding community would be able to access sport following all government guidelines and ensuring a safe place.

Roger Michie, Business Manager of Active Nation, has had a pivotal role in supporting inclusion.

He has supported the DISC Disabled Inclusive Swimming Club, has also run a successful Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) project and introduced swimming lessons for those with sensory loss.

The Volunteer Commitment Awards, sponsored by Everyone Active, was awarded to Fina Martinez, Parez, a Coach at Grantham Water Polo Club.

Throughout lockdown Fina was an inspiration; her determination to continue training; led her to promote the couch to 5k for all players; making it fun and interactive; she developed training plans and exercises, that helped keep our young people active and engaged.

As lockdown eased, Fina went on a recruitment campaign for the club looking for new players, appearing on local radio shows, TV news bulletins and approaching all the local secondary schools, promoting Waterpolo.

As a result of Fina’s efforts, the club welcomed 32 new players in September.

The Workplace Wellbeing Award, sponsored by Active Nation, went to North Kesteven District Council.

The changes and improvements to wellbeing at NKDC over the last 12 months have enabled the team to move from Silver to Gold in the Investors in People Standards, they are finalists in the IIP Awards and the CIPD Awards for their Workplace Health and Wellbeing Programme.

Lindsay Nearn and Tony Lake were honoured with the evening’s Fundraising Award, sponsored by Chestnut Homes.

They signed up for the Don’t Quit, Get Fit St Barnabas challenge in January 2021.

Lindsay, a 47-year-old mum of five lost an incredible 9st as part of this lifestyle change and new training regime. Tony, her partner, also lost an additional 3st 7lbs.

The pair completed their running challenge in January.

They enjoyed it so much that they then went on to complete the National Three Peaks in just over 24 hours in June, and also signed up to scale Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa, next May.

The 2021 Active Change Award, sponsored by One You Lincolnshire, was awarded to Gemma Warrington.

This is an award that rewards an individual who has used sport and physical activity to make a positive change to their lives over the past 12 months.

In October 2020 Gemma Warrington decided to make changes to her health and wellbeing as she was feeling 'completely fed up, stressed, anxious, overwhelmed and insecure'.

Since October, she has lost an amazing 5st 5lbs and has transformed her life.

Long Sutton Cricket Club was the proud recipient of the Active Club Award, sponsored by Bishop Grosseteste University.

The club has come back stronger than ever from lockdown, and offer countless coaching and playing opportunities for men, women and juniors.

The club was also instrumental in a pilot for Girls only All-Stars and Dynamos cricket in the late summer, and also delivered a Women’s Soft Ball Cricket Festival, a fun-filled day attended by over 50 ladies.

The Active Schools Award, sponsored by Branston, recognises a school that has pro-actively, and innovatively encouraged pupil participation in sport and physical activity remotely and/or in the school setting.

The 2021 Award was presented to Skegness Grammar, for the countless opportunities they promoted to keep students active in Lockdown.

They organised challenges for the students, including Ultimate Athlete Competition, the You’re a Star Wellbeing Challenge, Virtual London Marathon, a Virtual Sports Day, and even a Virtual Tug of War.

The PE staff team even hosted a virtual sports celebration evening and personally delivered the medals to the student houses.

Special Sporting Recognition, sponsored by Ambitions Personnel The Active Lincolnshire team and judges recognised either individuals in the category of Special Sporting Recognition,sponsored by Ambitions Personnel.

The Special Sporting recognition awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of athletes from Lincolnshire in national and international sporting competitions, including this year's Olympics and Paralympics.

The athletes who were recognised on the night were Paralympic javelin ace Hollie Arnold, Metheringham RaceRunning star Thomas Talbot, Paralympic dressage competitor Sophie Wells, cyclist Jo Tindley, Olympic runner Sam Atkin, Olympic hockey player Shona McCallum, Paralympic archer Victoria Rumary, and Olivia Clark, a former Boston United Ladies' goalkeeper who competes internationally for Wales.