Agenda item

Members of the public were invited to nominate friends, family, neighbours, community groups and/or businesses for a Proud of Bucks Award.

The three award categories were:

1.      Buckinghamshire Community Award Best Adult Contribution - For an individual (aged over 21) who has contributed to their local community during 2021 by improving lives for others or improving their local environment.

2.      Buckinghamshire Community Award Best Young Person Contribution – For young people (aged under 21) who have had a positive impact on the local community or peers through community engagement or activism.

3.      Buckinghamshire Community Award Best Community Group Contribution - Recognising and celebrating a group in the Community Board area which has made a clear and positive impact on the community during 2021.

Paige Hall

Paige established and runs the Facebook page "Acts of Kindness Chiltern and Surrounding" which permits residents who either need goods or services offered free of charge, on an urgent or non-urgent basis, to ask for help. Paige works tirelessly supporting and helping individuals and charities.

Paige has single handedly created a safe space for anyone who is struggling where they can ask for help with things like food, support, furniture, clothing and any other bits they may need. She creates food hampers, toy hampers and care packages for anyone who needs them, including refugees, the homeless, and those struggling to survive. 

Not only did Paige start Acts Of Kindness Chiltern group on Facebook, she collects for domestic violence charities, sorts Easter and Christmas gifts for children in families who may not be able to afford anything otherwise.

Carole Eaden

Carole has devoted many hours to working on plans and schemes for the area, creating a vision and inspiring people to get involved, in particular through the Gt Missenden & Prestwood revitalisation group.

Jim O’Donovan

Jim is a founding figure and volunteer at The Missenden Walled Garden. He is responsible for many of the key components of the charity infrastructure, the IT systems, hardware and software, and all the telecommunications.

Jim volunteers for at least 3 days a week, always with a smile and often with a song and is capable, and willing, to tackle any job that needs doing to help things run smoothly in the garden.

Moving on, I am pleased to announce that the winning award for Best Young Person Contribution goes to:

Kelsi Wright

While the UK was in lockdown, Kelsie ran online sessions for 4th Prestwood Brownies every Tuesday. Kelsie also helped at guiding sessions when needed. In November, she helped organise and run the Guiding and Scouting Remembrance Parade where donations were collected for Scotty’s Little Soldiers.

During lockdown, Kelsie ran Holy Trinity Youth Group for young people aged 12+ and continued to run this until it folded in June. Kelsie also volunteered at Little Kingshill Youth Group via zoom every Sunday until lockdown ended. Instead of leaving youth group leadership after HT Youth Group closed, Kelsie worked with the church to set up HT Fusion, a new youth group for young people aged 10 to 15 and ran activity days for young people who were not part of the youth group involving craft, music and sports.

In the summer, Kelsie ran youth sessions for local summer activity group Lighthouse Great Missenden. She sat on a discussion panel, which created a safe space for young people to discuss various topics. Additionally, Kelsie sits on the committee and panel organising following Lighthouse weeks and charity events, meeting monthly. Kelsie took the discussion of important topics to a national level this year, sitting on the youth discussion panel for the G20, meeting four times between April and June to discuss important areas to bring to the government.

Culture and art is also important within Kelsie’s volunteering, as she helps at Prestwood Pantomime, supervising the children as well as constructing and painting the set.

Kelsie also works with the elderly within Prestwood, running summer events in previous years, and has volunteered to set up and help serve Christmas dinner to the elderly who are alone this Christmas.

A key volunteering role for Kelsie was her role on the Sports union at the University of Buckingham. Kelsie was elected for the voluntary role of President, which she ran alongside her degree. Within this role Kelsie held sporting sessions via Zoom and then in person around 2 to 3 times a week, as well as completing charity events such as ‘Move for Mind’ and Comic Relief. In the summer, Kelsie ran open sporting events once a week, allowing students to try new sports and experience a friendly competitive environment.

The Missendens Walled Garden

The Missenden Walled Garden enables adults in Buckinghamshire with learning disabilities, mental health problems and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties - their 'Members‘ - to transform their lives through Social Therapeutic Horticulture (STH).

Their Members, staff and volunteers have continued to work together as one team, having fun and learning about horticulture. Together, they have provided horticultural services, planting and maintaining a 10-acre site for Missenden Abbey (their home), along with growing fruit and vegetables for the Abbey kitchens and the wider community.  They have also partnered with their local parish council, village association, tennis club and older people’s care home to improve their shared surroundings through horticultural improvement and maintenance work.