StartUp Croydon celebrates community heroes at Mayor’s Civic Awards

StartUp Croydon salutes the unsung heroes among Croydon’s community which were celebrated at a glittering awards ceremony.

We were proud to be among the sponsors of the 2017 Mayor’s Civic Awards held at Hilton Croydon.

Mayor of Croydon Councillor Toni Letts said: “It was a real honour and a privilege to be able to meet some of the most amazing people living, working and volunteering in our borough and I’m delighted we had the opportunity to celebrate the fantastic contribution they each make to our community.

“Thank you to everyone involved in making this such a special night.”

The awards ceremony honoured the outstanding people from across the borough who make Croydon a brilliant place for people to live, grow, work and visit.

The winners for each category were:

Business in the Community: Chequers Contract Services Ltd

Contribution to Sport and Healthy Living: Energise FC

Don’t Mess with Croydon – Take Pride: Sparkle Bulku

Fairer Croydon: Roundabout

Good Neighbour: Sarah Balch

Stronger Together: South West London (Croydon) Law Centre Advice volunteers

Young Achiever of the Year: Shaniqua Benjamin

Volunteer of the Year: Bilquis Ahmed

Voluntary Group of the Year: Love Norbury

A special Mayor of Croydon Lifetime Achievement award was also presented to Brian Hollands, a lifelong Croydon resident who has spent 25 years volunteering at St Christopher’s Hospice.

Described as an integral member of the volunteering team, Mr Hollands received the coveted award in recognition of the hundreds of hours he has given up to be an ambulance driver, collecting patients from their homes and bringing them to the hospice for appointments as well as carrying out archiving, fundraising and assisting at events.

Veolia headline sponsored this year’s awards and, in addition to StartUp Croydon, other sponsors were Mulalley, Hilton, Axis, Connected Space, Brick by Brick and Southern Marketing Services.