Awards Winners 2022
The first North Northamptonshire Active Communities Awards was held at Kettering Conference Centre on Wednesday 16th November 2022 at which local Sports Performers, Clubs, Schools, Groups and Organisations were recognised and celebrated.
Local sporting hero Anita Neil from Wellingborough also shared her story as the first British Female Black Olympian.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone that was nominated this year, all your hard work and dedication in making North Northamptonshire a great place to be active hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The 2022 winners are:
COMMUNITY CLUB
CORBY HELLENIC YOUTH FC
Corby Hellenic Youth Football Club has worked effortlessly to overcome major issues to rebuild and strengthen their club. A year ago, the club had a building that needed to be demolished, no money and was at breaking point – Corby Hellenic YFC now is thriving and has a community hub, 11 football teams and a strong committee. The club have also managed to raise money for local charities along-side financially securing money to provide a clubhouse for the whole community.
COMMUNITY GROUP/ORGANISATION
KINGS CLIFFE ACTIVE
Kings Cliffe Active Charity has supported the local community to be more active together and improved the quality of local facilities in Northamptonshire. These improvements include supporting local clubs operating on the site, refurbishment of the MUGA and becoming successful in gaining Grass Pitch Maintenance funding. The KCA have addressed issues including access to activities by developing an area which includes a café, additional clubs and putting on activities and events that people can attend together.
SPORTS ACTIVATOR
BEN COLLINS
Ben works at St Mary’s CEVA Primary school as the sports-lead. Ben was the driving force behind the school starting extensive free after school sports provisions, providing 34 free clubs across the year, which 86% of the children at the school attended at least one of the activities. Ben also set up the Inter-school sports series which runs throughout the year and is a great success with over 200 local children having the chance to play football. In his own time Ben also volunteers his time to coach both academy level and community Football for Kettering Town FC.
COMMUNITY CHAMPION
JEREMY STRUTT
Jeremy has become a vital member to the committee at East Carlton Cricket Club. Jeremy volunteers his time to support and grow the club. Since joining the club, Jeremy has organised events to fundraise for the club, organised team building events and has developed a plan for the future of the club. Through the fundraising and sponsorship, the club now has new nets, portable nets, a new scoreboard, new equipment and wide-ranging improvements to the grounds have been made. The club is now well placed to secure further investment and gain accreditation.
YOUNG VOLUNTEER
(JOINT WINNERS)
ELLIS BIRD
Ellis during this academic year has supported with years 7, 8 and 9 Football training sessions, fixtures and has taken on an officiating role to support the department. Ellis has been coaching the students and has been a fantastic role model giving up his own time to support others. Ellis has shown outstanding contribution to the school and the PE department and has shown impeccable maturity and leadership skills.
YOUNG VOLUNTEER
(JOINT WINNERS)
MILLIE BRADING
13-year-old Millie has been a member of Kettering Hockey Club for the past 8 years. Millie has taken on the task of coaching, and as well as turning up for her own training sessions, Millie also runs weekly sessions for the under 10’s squad. Millie plans her own sessions and ensures each one is fun and relevant to the needs of the individual players as well as the group as a whole.
DISABILITY SPORTS PERFORMER
MAISIE SUMMERS NEWTON
Maisie since winning her double Gold medal performance at the Tokyo Paralympics has continued to progress in the last year by winning titles at National level as well as on the Global stage at 2 of the biggest events in swimming. Maisie continues to support the legacy work by visiting many schools in the area with her Paralympics and World Championship medals inspiring other young people and educating students on swimming and disabilities.
HEALTH AND WELLBEING INITIATIVE
SUPPORT NORTHAMPTONSHIRE LADIES SWIMMING
The support Northamptonshire Ladies Swimming initiative was started back in February 2022 where the programme was developed to help ladies of the Asian community get back into exercise after the pandemic. This initiative has seen 15 regular ladies participate with swimming sessions on a weekly basis. This project has helped to break down isolation and has had a positive impact on mental health of participants.
WORKPLACE WELLBEING AWARD
COTTINGHAM CofE PRIMARY SCHOOL
Cottingham School has always held wellbeing high upon their agenda. The school introduced a staff shopping day during Christmas, staff yoga sessions on inset days and staff breakfast / lunch sessions together. The school offers a spiritual council and a Magnificent mind group who help organize all sorts of different events/activities for their peers to enjoy. Pastoral support for both children and adults is available which is supported by the senior leadership team and staff have attended a Mental Health lead course and from this, the school have created their own Mental health policy and action plan for moving the school forward.
SPORT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR- PRIMARY
ST MARYS CofE (VA) PRIMARY ACADEMY
St Mary’s have been a driving force for sports and activities in their local community. 34 free after school clubs have been provided for students which included Parkour, Dance, Archery and Dodgeball. Working with Kettering Town FC, the school has been the lead in setting up an Inter School Football League and Interschool sports event. The school have worked with 8 different sporting agencies and clubs and worked with Northamptonshire Saints. St Mary’s were able to have 92% of year 6 students leave the school being competent swimmers.
SPORT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR- SECONDARY
BISHOP STOPFORD SCHOOL
BSS has a broad and balanced PE curriculum that allows students to experience a wide range of activities from traditional sports to new contemporary activities such as Parkour, Flag Football and accessible sports such as Goalball. Students in all key stages are given leadership opportunities including the Legacy Leaders programme and County Leadership programme. The school has a large uptake in A Level PE, B-Tec and Health and Social Care. Bishop Stopford School were awarded bronze in the Secondary School Games and has an array of places in the District Champions, County Champions, Regional Champions and School Games Level 3. Also a number of students have used the school sports platform to be selected for high performance pathways in Hockey, Rugby, Swimming and Football.
GET ACTIVE YOUNG PERSON
JAMIE ARTHUR JONES
Jamie suffers from Front Lobe Epilepsy Nocturnal, Hashimoto and Hypermobility, yet he is still able to attend and enjoy a range of clubs including Cricket, Creative Core, Drumming, Gravity Bounce and Diving. These clubs and activities based in Corby have helped with Jamie’s mental health, mood balancing, social inclusion, physical stimulation and mental therapy. Jamie shows courage, positively and consistent self-belief to keep going and attend his sport and creative activities.
GET ACTIVE
SHELIA STANFORTH
Sheila has been attending seated exercise classes every week despite breaking her hip in three places and restricted use of one of her arms. Sheila participates with every class with a smile, motivation and ready to push herself. Sheila tries every exercise and also encourages other participants around her during the sessions. Since attending the sessions, Sheila has had a massive improvement in her range of movements and mobility. Sheila proves that even seated exercise is beneficial and inspires others to attend.
YOUNG SPORTS PERSON
ALICE BATES
Alice has had an outstanding year over Road, Cross Country and Track which has seen her win a National Championship and then be selected to represent Great Britain at the European U18 Championship in Jerusalem. Alice has had an outstanding year finishing in 5th place at the School Games National final earning her first England vest for a home International.
LOCAL SPORTS PERFORMER
MAISIE SUMMERS NEWTON
Maisie has achieved outstanding results in the past year and has won titles on the global stage at two of the biggest events within the sport – the Paralympics and Commonwealth Games. Maisie is an excellent role model and has attended events throughout North Northamptonshire to increase the awareness of disabled people’s abilities within sport and has inspired others to become more active. Maisie alongside her intensive training and competition schedule has also started a teacher training course.
OUTSTANDING RECOGNITION AWARD
JEFFREY GONSALVES
Jeff unfortunately passed away in August 2022, however he was a pillar of the Martial Arts community for over 30 years. Jeff dedicated his time to run sport sessions for young people and adults. Jeff ran the Fit and Fed project which provided young people in areas of deprivation, access to sports activities and a hot meal to combat holiday hunger. Jeff responded to covid by running free online Martial Arts sessions, so his members and their families still had access to training. Jeff also received a High Sheriffs Award for his work.
The Active Communities Awards setup and Olympian Anita Neil
