Community heroes have been honoured at Stevenage's annual awards night at the Gordon Craig Theatre.

Residents, business leaders and dignitaries gathered for the ceremony on Saturday, October 26, where the winners of the Stevenage Together Awards - formerly Stevenage Pride - were announced. 

The winners were revealed by leader of the council, Richard Henry at an event hosted by the Mayor of Stevenage, Cllr Jim Brown and compered by Stevenage FC match day announcer, Jay Drackford.

Prizes were handed out across 11 categories – New Stevenage Business, Environment, STEM, (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths), Wellbeing, Sporting, Rising Star, Caring, Team, Community Champion, Lifetime and the Judges’ Special award.

Tollers Solicitors were this year’s main awards sponsor, and the winners were:

New Stevenage Business Award (sponsor Co-Space) – Geek Retreat, a local business that has demonstrated outstanding innovation, a drive for success, and has a real connection with the people of Stevenage, having created an inclusive, safe place that is open to everyone.

Environment Award (sponsor Lovell) – Tony Gillard, a truly admirable member of our community. He’s a well-known volunteer with the local St Nich’s Litter Pickers Group who has been out litter picking pretty much every day since 2022, making our town more enjoyable for everyone.

STEM Award (Sponsor Hertfordshire Futures) – STEM Discovery Centre, an amazing place, bringing together cutting-edge industry and technology, combining it with high-quality education and learning, which positively impacts the younger generations of Stevenage to consider the STEM sector forming part of their future career path.

Wellbeing Award (sponsor Wates) – Stephen Sapsed, goes above and beyond providing fun and inclusive dance and fitness classes that always make people smile and feel at ease. If people cannot get to him, he goes to them visiting care homes, spreading happiness wherever he goes.

Sporting Award (sponsor Everyone Active) – Danika Williams, a special person within our community dedicated to ensuring sport is inclusive for all, across multiple schools within Stevenage. Inspiring a love for physical activity and impacting many young people throughout the town.

Rising Star Award – Ben Galbraith, a young person whose entrepreneurial talent and drive have led him to making a significant impact on the STEM sector. He launched an in-house peer-to-peer mentoring program and helped others to unlock their potential and succeed through offering crucial support to students submitting competitive university applications, sharing his knowledge and skills he launched the pilot of the Zero Gravity Next Gen Project.

Caring Award (sponsor Reef) – Dawn Sheldrick, a kind-hearted person whose selflessness and generosity have touched the lives of many people for a number of years. She continues to run Dogwatch, arranges regular social dog walks, raises money for local charities and visits the children at Lister Hospital twice a week.

Team Award (sponsor Aaron Services) - the Health Play Specialist Team at Lister Hospital, a special team which offers support to families, and playtime to children visiting the Lister Hospital, at what can be one of their most challenging times in life. They make them feel more at home and also fundraise and propose new projects to help improve the experience for young people visiting hospital.

Community Champion Award (sponsor Fosters Legal Services) - Brenda Brown, a lady whose outstanding contributions have had a profound and lasting impact on Stevenage. Brenda (who is 82 years old) is an active member of our Stevenage community, many of whom will know of her, and the countless hours she has volunteered to looking after our wellbeing and putting others before herself.

Lifetime Award - Margaret and David Crawley, whose decades of devotion to running the St Joseph’s Drama Group have left an enduring mark on the heart of Stevenage and their legacy will continue to inspire future generations for years and years to come.

Judges’ Special Award (sponsor Tollers Solicitors) – Stevenage Park Run, since its initial launch, the Stevenage Park Run is now well established with many people taking part on a regular basis. The efforts of the Park Run Team who are there week in, week out have had a lasting impact on our running community here within Stevenage, improving our fitness and getting us all out enjoying the fresh air.

Cllr Richard Henry, leader of Stevenage Borough Council and chair of the judges, said: “These special awards allow us to pay tribute, once a year, to a few of our local heroes – people and organisations that enhance the lives of hundreds of people all over Stevenage every day.

“Ours is a great town and there are fantastic things going on here. Some pretty amazing people are making things happen, making things better, and making a real difference to Stevenage life.

“I’d like to thank this year’s sponsors, Tollers Solicitors, headline sponsor of the Stevenage Together Awards 2024, and all our other sponsors, Co-Space - New Stevenage Business Award, Lovell - Environment Award, Hertfordshire Futures - STEM Award, Wates – Wellbeing Award, Everyone Active – Sporting Award, Reef – Caring Award, Aaron Services – Team Award, Fosters Legal Services – Community Champion Award, Tollers Solicitors – Judges’ Special Award and the Gordon Craig Theatre venue team for their help to host this year’s awards event.

“I would like to also thank the judges for giving up their time to choose our winners – Robert Willoughby from Tollers Solicitors, Simone Clarke and Andy Hazell of Aaron Services, William Stokes and Jess Roberts of Co-Space, Allan Prescott from Everyone Active, Sandra Foster of Fosters Legal, Evie Edgar of Lovells, Will Rohleder of Reef, and Daniel Aspinwall from Wates."