Tough task once more for Pride of Guernsey judges
TOUGH decisions had to be made yesterday as a panel of judges chose the winners of this year’s Guernsey Press Pride of Guernsey awards.
Three people were assigned to each of the 13 categories, including one member of Guernsey Press staff, a representative of the category’s sponsor and an independent judge.
From the original 146 nominees, the public voted for their favourites and a shortlist of three per category were presented before the judges.
A total of 20,250 votes were cast by the public, the most ever in the history of the awards.
Categories this year were Customer Service (in association with Alexander Daniels), Emergency Hero of the Year (Cherry Godfrey), Neighbour of the Year (Guernsey Gas), Carer of the Year (Specsavers), Young Achiever of the Year (St Pierre Park hotel), Parish Champion of the Year (Grow Ltd.), Conservation Hero of the Year (Butterfield), Grandparent(s) of the Year (The Channel Islands Co-operative Society), Angel of the Year (Ravenscroft), Parent(s) of the Year (DWA), Arts Contribution of the Year (Moonpig), Overcoming Adversity (Close Finance) and Teacher of the Year.
Judging the Parish Champion category for the third time was independent judge Nicole Culverwell, from Black Vanilla Ltd.
‘It never gets any easier,’ she said.
‘Each year the candidates put forward are quite different and all make a difference to the parish in their own way, but the time they devote so generously to volunteering is what makes Guernsey such a lovely place to live - the awards are a fantastic way to recognise and celebrate them for this.’
She said the three judges saw a clear winner in the shortlist and was excited to attend the awards evening in October.
‘The stories that you hear on the night are really heart-warming, there are some really special people in our community.’
Abby Tee, from Cherry Godfrey, was a judge this year for the first time.
‘There was a clear winner for us, although all Emergency Heroes do a fantastic job, we felt like this nominee in particular went above and beyond. It was lovely to read the stories from the top three and how important the emergency service staff are to the island’s community,’ she said.
Judging took place at the Old Government House Hotel and was the final step before the awards evening which will be held at the Guernsey Press offices on Saturday 5 October.
