NOMINATIONS are being invited for the Wirral Award 2024.

The award provides civic recognition for an outstanding achievement in the previous 12 months, or for providing a distinguished service to the borough over a long period, which is usually 20 years or more.

It can be granted to individuals and organisations and previous recipients include individuals who freely gave up their time to work in their communities, including RNLI volunteers, long-standing foster carers, and sports and youth group volunteers.

All nominations will be considered by a small panel comprising of the Mayor and a small number of other Councillors. Their recommendations will then be submitted to the Council’s Regulatory and General Purposes Committee for approval.

The Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Cherry Povall, said: “Local groups and individual volunteers do so much to help people and communities in every part of our borough.

“Life in Wirral just wouldn’t be the same without their dedication.

“I am so pleased to be able to shine a light on some of the incredible things they do and to say thank you for on behalf of the Council and local residents.”

The winners of the award for 2023 were:

  • Posthumously awarded to Dave Barden, who sadly lost his life in the Moroccan earthquake in September last year, while on a leg of a round-the-world trip to raise funds for the Red Cross. Dave was also involved in other voluntary work, including with the Secret Gardens of Oxton and was Membership Secretary for the Oxton Society.
     
  • Jack Blakemore for his longstanding services as a volunteer director and Chairperson of Wirral Credit Union for over 30 years. Jack has also helped to raise more than £100,000 for local charities on behalf of Claremount Road Methodist Church and has been involved in local and national refereeing more than 60 years.
     
  • Mike Curtis for his work with a wide range of community and heritage groups in Wirral, including Greasby Library, Wirral Footpaths and Open Spaces Preservation Society, and as Wirral’s representative on the committee of the Cheshire Local History Association.
     
  • Alan Dollery for his work as Chair of Prenton Tenants Association since its formation in 1998. He has also helped to raise thousands of pounds for charities and run a community foodbank which has supported around local 60 families. Alan has also led Prenton in Bloom, supported litter picks, and arranged for a bench to be donated at the Prenton Memorial.
     
  • Paul Dufton for providing a distinguished voluntary and campaigning service to the borough for more than 25 years, helping so many local people with a disability to lead a full and independent life. 
     
  • John Hilton for providing a vital link between the Peruvian Embassy and Wirral Council for around 15 years, helping to build and maintain a strong working relationship with the Embassy, which has done so much to support historical and cultural links and added great value to the understanding of the history and culture of our area.
     
  • Georgina Jacobs for helping bereaved parents find the final resting place of their born-asleep babies, resulting in the Council providing a plot in Landican Cemetery to commemorate them. 
     
  • Chris Morris for her long-standing voluntary work as Secretary of Wirral History and Heritage Association, for her contribution to Birkenhead History Society, and as a volunteer with the Friends of Flaybrick. 
     
  • Rose Mullarkey for more than 50 years for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, where she has supported thousands of local individuals and families who are in need. Often working in partnership with other organisations – including Wirral Council – Rose has provided countless home visits, telephone contacts, made deliveries and co-ordinated volunteers. 
     
  • New Brighton Lifeboat Crew for their continued traditions of the RNLI saving 26 lives over the last 4 years and 364 call outs and making our seaways and beaches safe. 
     
  • Bill Price for establishing Glenavon Junior Football Club in 1992 and contributing hours of service every week since. Bill has grown its membership to an incredible 650 members and his efforts have enabled thousands of children and adults from all backgrounds to play the game they love.
     

More information and nomination forms are available from the Wirral Council website.

Nominations close on November 20 2024 and should be returned to juliawoodcock@wirral.gov.uk.