Northamptonshire Make a Difference winners revealed

Jack Fleckney pushed Albert's wheelchair up Wales's highest mountain

A PE teacher who helped a young wheelchair-user fulfil his dream of climbing a mountain is one of the winners in the BBC Radio Northampton Make a Difference Awards 2024.

Jack Fleckney pushed eight-year-old Albert up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) to raise funds for an all-terrain powered wheelchair.

Other winners included a woman who set up a community cafe after her son took his own life, and an animal-lover who rescues hens when they are no longer commercially viable.

The awards were handed out at a ceremony at Wellingborough's Castle Theatre.

Mr Fleckney, who used to play rugby for Wasps, met Albert while covering some PE lessons at his school.

Albert from Rushden, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, told him he would have loved to climb a mountain but his legs did not work properly so he would never be able to.

Mr Fleckney decided to make his dream come true by pushing Albert up the highest mountain in Wales in an all-terrain manual wheelchair.

He said: "Some bits were pushed, then there were other bits [where] we had a rope and – if the track was too bad and you literally couldn't push a wheelchair – I had a team of friends who all pulled with a rope to help him get through those difficult bits."

The winner of the Fundraiser Award said it was "really lovely to get nominated, but I'm such a small part of that whole fundraising thing".

Denise Mackay set up Johnny's Happy Place and runs it every weekend

Denise Mackay won the Community Award for setting up a community cafe after her son took his own life.

She was nominated by her daughter, who described how she had worked tirelessly to keep Johnny's Happy Place in Kettering going, giving talks and raising money.

She added that people said the cafe had "saved their life by being there to listen".

Ms Mackay said: "Johnny died in October 2014 [and] people said 'We've got to do something as a legacy for Johnny'.

"There are a lot of people whose very sad stories we've heard, but they know that they can come because they know I've been through what they've been through."

Jenny Betts cares for hens who are too old to be egg-laying machines

Hens who have reached the age of 18 months and are no longer useful as egg-layers usually do not survive.

But Jenny Betts, from Northampton, helps rescue as many as she can, and her hard work has won her the Make a Difference Animals Award.

She volunteers for Chicken Rescue UK and prepares the hens for new homes with loving families.

She said: "I've always had a real thing for animals. I just never thought I'd fall for chickens in the way that I did!"

The other winners are:

• Volunteer Award: Nina Robinson, Rush 2the Den playgroup

• Carer Award: Khandie Rees, Remember My Baby photography

• Great Neighbour: Lynn Hinch, Ability bus service

• Bravery Award: Lindsay and Gregg Nunney, Team Sebastian

• Green Award: Christine Hamilton, Mawsley litter-pick