Nominate an unsung hero for the 2024 Hillingdon Community Awards

It's the time of year when Hillingdon Council calls on residents to nominate people or organisations they know who give their time and effort to help make our borough a better place and put them forward for a Hillingdon Community Award. 

Now in its third year, nominations for the 2024 awards opened today (Monday 6 November) and are a chance for the council to acknowledge and thank those residents and local groups whose selfless acts better the lives of those around them and make the borough a welcoming, positive place to live. 

Any exceptional acts of kindness - whether it's enabling people to keep fit and active, helping keep the borough tidy, or supporting someone in need - help make Hillingdon special. So, make sure you put forward any person or a group of people who you think fit the bill.  

Winners will be presented their awards at a special ceremony at the Civic Centre in Uxbridge with the honours being handed out by the Leader of Hillingdon Council, Cllr Ian Edwards, the Mayor of Hillingdon, Cllr Shehryar Ahmad-Wallana and the council's Chief Executive, Tony Zaman. 

Among last year's winners were scout leader Jennipher Marshall-Jenkinson who was given the event's top honour, the Civic Medal (the second highest accolade the council can bestow upon residents after the Freedom of the Borough), for her lifetime commitment to helping and supporting young people.  

Scooping Gold in the Bravery Award category last year, was then 12-year-old Nawal Rafi, whose quick actions saved her father's life after she realised he was having a stroke and called the emergency services. 

Speaking of her experience Jennipher Marshall-Jenkinson, said: "These awards are great and provide an opportunity to show people how much they are valued. So, it was a great honour to be given the Civic Medal for 2022 for my work promoting Scouting within the borough.  

"Our youth provide us with a vision for the future - so they must be nurtured to form our future model citizens. Scouting helps to do this by helping the young people of our borough make new friends and engage in great activities which all help to build confidence and self-esteem.  

"All leaders work very hard to make this happen, so I was delighted to be recognised for the work I carry out within the borough." 

Cllr Ian Edwards, said: "These awards continue to highlight the incredible levels of commitment and compassion being shown by those volunteering their time in communities across the borough. 

"To not shine a light on these extraordinary residents would be remiss as they are the very fabric of our borough. So, I'm delighted that nominations are open for this year and look forward to reading the incredible stories behind them in due course." 

More details on the awards and how to nominate someone can be found at www.hillingdon.gov.uk/community-awards.