What people did to make us feel proud

Earlier this year, we invited our readers to nominate people who they feel deserve recognition for the wonderful things they do, the things that make Guernsey a special place to live.

For the third year running, hundreds of people put forward their nominees and thousands of votes were cast, eventually resulting in a shortlist, which went to our panel of judges.

The awards judges then had the unenviable task of whittling those 39 worthy finalists down to just 13 award winners.

Our community is full of wonderful people who go out of their way to do extraordinary things, whether that’s through their job, because of a life event or simply because that is who they are.

Going the extra mile seems to be a natural part of some peoples’ personality, and they do what they do without any thought of recognition or reward.

They are the people for whom we started the Pride of Guernsey awards. And at Saturday evening’s award ceremony, the audience heard again and again of these special individuals and teams who make life better for others.

As well as the fun, the glitz and the glamour, it was a tremendously humbling evening as gradually, one award after another, for caring neighbours, teachers, health professionals, people who do marvellous things for their parish, people who have endured unimaginable tragedy, some truly powerful and poignant stories of the lives of people in our Bailiwick were told.

Tales of friendship, love, selflessness, dedication, triumph over adversity and above all, community spirit.

Those of us who have lived here for years, or all of our lives, can forget that those qualities are in short supply in other places.

We were proud to be able to show off our community at its very best. And this is the reason why we have so much to be proud of.