The finalists have been announced for the inaugural Celebrate Aberdeen Awards, a new event which is set to recognise and celebrate the city’s third sector.
The event comes on the back of the Celebrate Aberdeen Weekend, which takes place each year at the end of August and features a huge foot parade, as well as musical and dance performances at various venues across the city centre.
The winners of the awards will be announced at a ceremony held at the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre (AECC) on Saturday, September 8th, 2018.
The finalists in the categories are:
Large Charity Of The Year
CLAN Cancer Support
Inspire PTL
The Archie Foundation
Small Charity Of The Year
Aberdeen SANDS
Friends of the Neuro Ward
Sunrise Partnership
Social Enterprise Of The Year
Home Start
MeToo!
Shazam Theatre Company
Event Of The Year
Eat On The Green’s ‘Human Anchor Of Light’ in aid of Friends Of Anchor
‘Relay Life For Peterhead’ in aid of Cancer Research UK
‘Scottish Night With A Twist’ in aid of Maggies Aberdeen
Campaign Of The Year
‘Benaiah’ in aid of Teen Challenge
‘Mission Christmas’ Northsound Cash For Kids
‘PAN USA Highway Challenge’ in aid of Heads Together
Volunteer Of The Year
Alan Chalmers, Alcohol & Drugs Action
Anne Morrison, CLAN Cancer Support
Karen Cargill, Donside Village Community
Rita Stephen, CLAN Cancer Support
Young Supporter Of The Year
Dylan Henderson, Police Scotland Youth Volunteers
Lewis Bannerman, Future Choices
Vanessa Finch, All Shapes & Sizes
Staff Member Of The Year
Alistair Meek, Triple A’s
Kirsty Walker, Charlie House
Suz Strachan, SensationALL
Fundraiser Of The Year
Alana Stott, Heads Together
Audrey Wood, RNLI
Gordon Cruden, Teen Challenge
Corporate Partnership Of The Year
Aberdeen International Airport and MeToo!
BHGE and Sport Aberdeen
The Chester Hotel and Friends of the Neonatal Unit
Heart Of The Community
Howard Drysdale, Aberdeen Seafarers Centre
Pauline Brown, The Fittie Development Trust
Tracey Johnstone, Charlie House
Commenting on the standard of award entries, Celebrate Aberdeen founder, Morven Mackenzie said: “We fully expected to get some great applications as there are so many amazing individuals and wonderful organisations working in the third sector in this area.
“However, I don’t think any of us involved in organising the event thought that we’d receive quite so many truly inspiring entries. I know for a fact the judges had an incredibly difficult time deciding upon the top three for each category. As they said themselves, absolutely everyone who entered deserved an award.
“The more work we do in the third sector in Aberdeen, the more we realise just how important it is to the city. There are so many charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups working incredibly hard for the benefit of others, often without a huge amount of recognition. We hope that through Celebrate Aberdeen we can help shine a light on just some of that work and some of those people.
“We’re looking forward to a great event at the AECC in September, where, thanks to the incredibly generous support of our local business community, all our third sector guests and their friends and families will be able to enjoy a fantastic evening of food and entertainment and no cost to themselves.
“Our own team of Celebrate Aberdeen volunteers is excited about announcing the winners on the evening, but really we’re just incredibly proud to be able to play a part in helping promote some of the amazing fundraising, volunteering and service provision that happens all the time here in the North-east.”
More information about the awards can be found at www.celebrateaberdeen/awards