Mayor of Winchester Community Awards

On Thursday 13th March Fiona, our outreach worker in Hampshire, went along to the Mayor of Winchester Awards accompanied by HILS deputy CEO Tom Cottam, as HILS had been nominated for a community award. Read on to find her full report of the evening and to discover if we won….

Hi, I’m Fiona and I’m the outreach worker for HILS in Hampshire. I was so honoured to be asked to go along to this awards ceremony, made all the more exciting by the fact that we are still relatively new in the Hampshire area. 

On our arrival to the historical Winchester Guildhall, we were greeted by some of the other nominees all dressed smartly in their cocktail dresses and smart suits. Every guest was offered a celebratory glass of champagne and congratulated on being nominated.  I chatted to a nominee who has volunteered with citizens advice for over thirty years and his wife who was very proud of him for all his volunteering work. They also asked many questions about what we did as a service and said how vital our meals on wheels service was for the community.  

We were then all called to take a seat in the King Alfred chambers where nominees were asked to seat on the end seats so when the time came, they could take to the stage easily. The room was full of nominees like us who had been nominated by a member of the public for providing a service which has had a positive impact on the community of Winchester.  The Mayor of Winchester opened the ceremony by thanking everyone for attending. Then he talked about how these awards can showcase the important work charities, businesses and local individuals have done over the past year in the Winchester area.  He proceeded to explain how over the night a total of fifty-four community awards were to be handed out to a total of seventy-one individuals, businesses, and groups.  

The ceremony began and it was lovely to hear about why other individuals and businesses had been nominated for an award. There was one individual who was nominated for saving a life of another person in Winchester high street by carrying out CPR before the ambulance arrived, and many charities and volunteers were nominated for helping people in the Winchester community. As we watched and listened to other nominees go up on stage when their name was called, I was closely listening out for our name to be called out as I was feeling quite nervous about going on stage.  

Around halfway through the ceremony Health and Independent living support was read out, so me and Tom eagerly made our way to the stage as this was the name we had been listening out for all evening. As we walked towards the stage, the reason for our nomination and win was announced. It was explained that HILS had been nominated because as a service we help to support people to stay healthy and independent in their own home by providing a hot nutritious meal at lunchtime for them, alongside this we provide an important wellbeing check.  The Community Team Members hard work was recognised as well in supporting individuals in their own home and by carrying out this vital service they had put a smile on people faces and the individuals felt more supported. We found out that our nomination had come from a sheltered home manger from Winchester.   

 The mayor shook hands with us both, and presented us with a certificate and a badge of Winchester arms as a keepsake. We quickly had to pose with the mayor of Winchester and the award for a quick photo on stage then were guided off the other side of the stage to retake our seats to watch the rest of the nominees receive their awards. The rest of the night went by quickly and everyone clapped for all the nominees. It was lovely to hear the further work of other charities, individuals and businesses who had helped the city of Winchester in some way. 

I felt like these awards brought the whole community together to celebrate the positive work business and individual do in supporting the community of Winchester.  I have framed the award and it hangs proudly at our depot in Itchen Abbas, just outside Winchester, so all the Community team members and other staff can see how their role is having a positive impact in helping the community nearby.  

We are so grateful for the nomination, and the decision to honour us with an award. Our hard work being noticed, and acknowledged in this way is such an amazing feeling. Receiving awards alongside such worthy winners and runners up was a truly humbling experience. It was a night I wont forget in a while!

If you, or a loved one want to find out more about our meals on wheels service in Hampshire, Hertfordshire, or West Sussex, please head to our meals pages to find out more.