Stars of the Sector Recognised in Community Awards
Voluntary and community organisations across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire have been rewarded and celebrated for their incredible work across the area.
Thirteen winners across nine categories were presented with awards at the celebration on Tuesday 23rd January at Stoke City Football Club. VAST, together with hosts and sponsors, presented awards to winners in recognition of their commitment and dedication to local communities.
The Totally Stoked Awards is a celebration of the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, a chance to recognise and reward voluntary and community organisations in recognition of their commitment and dedication to local communities.
After receiving hundreds of nominations before the new year, a panel of judges from VAST, The Community Foundation for Staffordshire, Support Staffordshire, SSE Energy Solutions, and The North Staffordshire GP Federation chose the top five nominations for each category. Shortlisted nominees were then invited to the awards ceremony where winners were announced by guest hosts, Adam Gratton and Tom Pine.
Speaking before the event, Adam, award winning journalist and Founder of The Community Cast said:
“I’m very much looking forward to hosting the Totally Stoked Awards with Tom and celebrating all that’s good in communities across Stoke-on-Trent.”
Development lead at Together Active, Tom said: “I’m really excited about jointly hosting the Totally Stoked awards with Adam because it’s a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the wonderful work of voluntary sector organisations in North Staffordshire.”
Not only inviting those nominated, VAST also provided free tickets to the event for others working and volunteering in the sector in the area, to allow them to join in with recognising the wonderful work of the organisations nominated and to celebrate the winners.
The day began with free workshop sessions for voluntary sector organisations that included funding and bid writing, dDeaf awareness, and marketing training, as well as a session on sustainability from event sponsor SSE Energy Solutions.
Tickets for the Totally Stoked Awards ceremony sold out within just a few days and saw more than 200 people from the voluntary sector join in the celebrations.
“We are very excited to be able to host this event,” said VAST Chief Executive, Lisa Healings, “it’s great that we’re able to recognise the tremendous effort of every single volunteer and member of staff, and to celebrate the incredible achievements of all the voluntary and community groups across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.”
It really is an honour to work with some of the best people and organisations in the area, and to play a small part in their success.”
Putting the ‘unity’ in community, friends, colleagues, and peers came together for the occasion, one where everyone in the same room has the same mission: to improve the lives of people in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. Every single person, organisation, and project nominated for an award received a certificate of recognition for their contribution to that mission. A time to celebrate theirs—and one another’s—commitment and dedication to the local voluntary sector, the awards ceremony radiated a real sense of togetherness and community spirit.
The winners of the Totally Stoked Awards 2024 are:
- Walk Talk Action and Sempar, Winners of the Best CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Project Award
- Destination: Home, Winner of the Best Collaborative Project Award
- Better Together Community Support Group, Winner of the Breakthrough Award: Organisation
- Golden Valiants, Winner of the Breakthrough Award: Project
- Middleport Matters, Winner of the Steps to Sustainability award
- dDeaflinks Staffordshire, Winner of the InVOLve Award
- Nunu Biddulph, Winner of the Community Champion Award
- The Bridge Centre, Winner of the Biggest Giver Award
- Affordable Food Stoke, Winner of the Biggest Impact Award.
Find out more about Totally Stoked here.
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