Volunteer police cadets, local residents and a 7-year-old pupil were amongst those awarded with Pride Awards by Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Sue Mountstevens.
Fourteen winners, including a team, were recognised at the awards ceremony for their life-saving efforts, support of vulnerable victims and relentless efforts to keep the local communities of Avon and Somerset safe and feeling safe.
During the ceremony attendees also heard from Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) Sarah Crew, before joining the PCC and DCC for lunch before ending the visit with a tour of the communications centre, where ‘999’ and ‘101’ calls are received.
PCC Sue Mountstevens said: “Today we saw some incredible, selfless and humble silent stars, who go above and beyond to make our communities safer and stronger. The dedication and commitment of the winners, to their local community, is exemplary and I would like to thank them again for all they do.
“I feel privileged to hear such examples of how much people care about their community and I am delighted to be able to recognise these individuals publicly.
“Our winners should feel really proud of themselves as we are of them. I hope others will see this great work and think about taking the time to nominate an unsung hero they know for a Pride Award.”
Alison Lammas and Royston Davies were nominated for their immense bravery in assisting a member of the public in their greatest hour of need. On being awarded they said: “We were surprised to have been nominated. We acted on instinct and just did what anyone else would have done in our situation.”
Taunton Volunteer Police Cadets Kira Lewis, Becky Thomson, Oliver Berkley and Keiran Harcombe were nominated for individually volunteering over 40 hours of their time a month in their communities, handing out crime prevention leaflets and offering advice.
Speaking on behalf of the cadets, Oliver said: “We feel very honoured to be nominated by our cadet leader Mark Bell and Gail Smythe. We’d also like to Taunton Deane Mayor, Cllr Hazel Prior-Sankey for inviting us to work alongside her. This is a great opportunity and we are the only unit across the UK to be invited to work with a local Mayor in this way.”
Members of the Safelink Team were nominated for their efforts to support men, women and children that have been affected by sexual abuse. Debbie Naylor, Safelink’s Independent Sexual Violence Advisor Team Leader said: “I feel incredibly proud of the whole team. They will always go above and beyond normal working practice and nothing is ever too much trouble for them. I want them to see how valued they all are.”
Tara Bourne was nominated for her work in organising the policing presence for Badminton Horse Trials and the British Tour Series cycling race. Tara said: “It is an absolute honour to receive this award. I love my job and strive to do it well, so to receive recognition is a wonderful compliment.”
Sergeant Denis McCoy was recognised for his outstanding work in organising this year’s National Police Dog Trials. On receiving the award, Denis said: “We hosted the event for the first time in our history back in May and had over 500 school children attend with various other community groups to watch what we were doing. It makes me feel very proud to be recognised for this work.”
Chlo Winfield is described by her nominator as someone who goes above and beyond to help others, including recently shaving her head to raise money in support of the charity, Rape Crisis. Chlo said: “It was a complete surprise to have been nominated and I feel really honoured to have been recognised.”
Police Community Support Officer Georgia Coles has been recognised for her youth diversion project in North Taunton and her efforts to reduce crime and promote inclusion on her beat. On being awarded she said: “I feel very proud to be nominated and I thought that the ceremony was a lovely way to honour everyone’s efforts.”
Police Constable Lou Grabham is described as someone whose level of commitment makes her a real credit to the Constabulary. She said: “I’d like to thank my nominator. I really just consider what I do as part of my role, and I love what I do, so I feel really proud to win!”
7-year-old Jack Short was nominated for saving the life of his elderly neighbour, when he raised the alarm and ensured she received the medical attention she urgently needed. He said: “I really enjoyed the awards, I am speechless and don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
In addition to our Pride Award winners we also took the time to recognise individuals who were unable to join us for the Be Proud Awards 2017, which took place in May, earlier this year.
Among those winners was Nick Gough, a Police Support Volunteer and a Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator. Nick was named the overall force winner for the Police Support Volunteer of the Year for his efforts to make his local community safer and stronger.
On accepting the award Nick said: “I’m extremely proud to be nominated for this award, and I’d like to thank Sue and Andy, for giving me the opportunity to serve my community.”
If you would like to nominate someone for the PCC’s Pride Awards you can do so here.
People are encouraged to put names forward as nominations for the PCC’s Pride Awards. The Awards are open all year round and decisions will be made quarterly.