Community stars to be honoured at BBC Essex awards

BBC Essex's Akylah Rodriguez, Ben Fryer and Sonia Watson will attend the ceremony in Hatfield Peverel on Thursday evening

A special awards evening is due to celebrate people who have been a force for good where they live.

Thirty-one people, groups or animals have been nominated across eight categories at the BBC Essex Make a Difference Awards.

The winners will be announced during a ceremony in Hatfield Peverel on Thursday evening.

This is the full list of the nominees:

Volunteer

• Loraine Coleman, from Grays, for her community work at ReEngage Thurrock

• George Duke set up an over-60s club in Stanford-le-Hope

• Karen Campbell, for her voluntary work at a Girlguiding group in Coggeshall

• Emma Cornwell runs a porch pantry in West Mersea

Judged by Olympic boxer Lewis Richardson

Community

• Underdog Crew supports misunderstood, disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in Colchester

• Colchester Blanketeers create blankets for patients on palliative care at Colchester Hospital

• Brightlingsea WinterFest is a festival that encourages people to banish the winter blues by engaging in arts and creative activities

• Community Embrace is a food charity helping people in Harlow to feed themselves

Judged by BBC Morning Live presenter Sheree Murphy

Fundraiser

• Chris Phillips, the Echo newspaper's chief sports reporter in Southend, raised more than £36,000 in 2024 for a mental health charity

• Rhys and Cai Atkinson, aged eight and seven, from Hatfield Peverel, held a cake sale and raffle to raise money in memory of their best friend who died

• Georgie Vincent set-up The Finley James Fund to create memory boxes and packs for bereaved hospitals in Essex

• Simon Foxen, from Thundersley, gets his friends to dress up as superheroes and appear at places to raise money

Judged by actor Lenny Rush

Young hero

• Polly, from Brentwood, is one of three people in the world with a rare form of juvenile idiopathic arthritis

• Jack, 15, managed to get a bus route reinstated after gathering more than 800 signatures to a petition in St Osyth

• Daisy-Mae, from Loughton, has selective mutism and managed a speech about what life is like for her

Judged by Jade Packer (Electro from Gladiators)

Neighbour

• Trevor South relayed his neighbour's patio in Leigh-on-Sea from scratch after she was widowed in 2020

• Lisa Strong, from Walton-on-the-Naze, runs three community choirs to help people fight loneliness, depression or who love singing

• Jane and Mark Harvey, have helped their Grays neighbour with hospital appointments, making dinner and walking their dogs.

• Lisa Bryant, from Aveley, helps an elderly neighbour with trips to hospital, cutting her hair and organising gardeners, carers and trade workers for her

Judged by TV presenter Dominic Littlewood

Active award

• Dave Chase runs football sessions for people struggling with their mental health in Chelmsford

• Sheryl Wheatland, from Harlow, takes her Sweat fitness groups to people who may not usually be able to access them

• Aaron Tyler runs Feelgood Wellness Centre for people of all abilities in Basildon

• Debbie Holme has run Essex Dance Theatre for 50 years, helping young people in Chelmsford to get active

Judged by Paralympic athlete Anne Wafula-Strike

Green

• Tom Haward is an eighth-generation oyster farmer in West Mersea, who is fighting to protect the county's oysters

• Harwich Litter Pickers connects isolated people by getting them together to clean-up the town

• Wickford in Bloom adds flowers and trees to the High Street

• Eco Essex Rehome, Reuse and Repurpose encourages people living in the county to do exactly what its name suggests

Judged by TV personality Lydia Bright

Animal

• Oscar is a therapy dog for students with special educational needs in Grays

• Valencia has assisted her Colchester-based owner, who is a wheelchair user, for seven years and can fetch items such as water bottles

• Essex Therapy Dogs visit staff at Broomfield Hospital to brighten their day

• Kelly Butler helps injured or endangered animals in Epping Forest

Judged by BBC Breakfast weather presenter Carol Kirkwood