A MAN who lost his leg and is confined to a wheelchair and a partially deaf woman who has struggled through serious illness to maintain her tireless contribution to the community, are two of the latest candidates to be put forward for this year's coveted Wirral Volunteer of the Year Award.

There are now just four weeks remaining before the closing date of Saturday, April 24 and Wirral Council for Voluntary Service (CVS), organisers of the prestigious annual award, are urging people not to leave their nominations until the last minute.

Angela Green, who along with colleague Tony Sandwell co-ordinates the event for the CVS, told me: "We are encouraged by the number of entries which have come in so far, but we understand, from the number of requests for entry forms, that many people have yet to submit their nominations. We would ask them to do so sooner rather than later in order to avoid any possible disappointment."

She added: "The Wirral Volunteer of the Year Award is a wonderful, and rare, opportunity for ordinary people to say 'thank you' to those who work tirelessly, and voluntarily, for the benefit of either individuals or the community. We want the public to put their thinking caps on and put pen to paper . . ."

It is you, the Wirral public, who will decide which of the peninsula's hundreds of 'hearts of gold' will receive the overall accolade at a special presentation night in June.

Whoever steps forward to take the coveted title will become only the fifth person to hold the prestigious award, following in the footsteps of Eastham's Bill Hughes, the first-ever recipient in 1995, Mary (May) Burscough, of Rock Ferry, Walter Robinson, of Wallasey, and the current title holder, Mrs Rose Dixon, of Birkenhead.

The Award is sponsored for the third successive year by NatWest Bank and is open to people who are resident in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and who have received no previous major public recognition.

The Award again has six categories (listed below) from which an overall winner will be chosen.

As in previous years, the Award is open to people who are resident in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and who have received no previous major public recognition.

Nomination forms are available at all local CVS offices, Wirral libraries, leisure and community centres and also at the Wirral Globe offices in Catherine Street, Birkenhead.

The Six Categories

1: Unemployed.

2: Employed (for volunteering in own time).

3: Younger person (under 25).

4: Older person (over 65).

5: Disabled person.

6: Specialist Category for 1999 - The "Made a Difference" Award (to recognise an individual or group whose contribution of one-to-one support has enabled others to overcome difficulties in their lives).

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