Teesdale’s champions...

THE best, the brightest and the bravest were recognised at the inaugural Teesdale Mercury Community Pride awards last week.
Champions were chosen in eight categories, while two special awards were handed out after being chosen by the Mercury’s editorial team as “truly inspirational”.
A large audience attended the event, which was held at The Witham, Barnard Castle, and hosted by Mercury editor Trevor Brookes.
He told those present the awards were a natural extension of the Mercury’s efforts to highlight the great wealth of community spirit across the dale.
Presenting the awards was the UK’s leading mountaineer Alan Hinkes, assisted by the Mercury’s chairwoman Carolyn Vane.
A proud Yorkshireman and former teacher, Mr Hinkes has lived locally for the past 20 years.
In an entertaining introduction, he outlined how, during 17 years, he became the only person in the UK ever to have successfully climbed the world’s 14 mountains above 8,000 metres.
He explained how all these peaks were above the “death zone” – the altitude above which there is not enough oxygen for humans to breathe.
“So how do you prepare for the death zone? Where do you go to get ready?” he asked the audience.
“A night out in Middlesbrough on a Friday,” he joked.
Turning to the awards, he said he was delighted to have been asked along.
“I have been living in the area for about 20 years and got into the paper at the end of the last century.
“It’s a super paper and I love reading it.”
As the awards were presented, Mr Brookes told the audience the judges had faced a difficult task picking winners from the three nominees in each of the eight categories.
Nowhere was this more obvious than in the award for contribution to sport, where two cricketing stalwarts shared the prize.
The judges couldn’t split Barnard Castle CC’s John Ashworth, who was inducted into the North Yorkshire South Durham League's hall of fame earlier this year, and John Raw, who played a pivotal role in helping Etherley CC rise from the ashes after it almost folded.
The awards concluded with a presentation to Anita Thompson, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, as the dale’s inspirational person of the year. Ms Thompson lost her son Nick in a car accident in 2014 and has since taken part in road safety campaigns in an effort to help other families avoid going through the same ordeal as she has.
Introducing the award, Paul Watson, Durham County Council’s road safety manager, described Ms Thompson as an inspiration to all involved in working to cut the number of deaths among young people on the roads.
After the awards, Mr Brookes said: “We were proud to share and celebrate these amazing and inspirational stories – Teesdale’s a special place and so are the people who live and work here.
“We’ve already had great feedback from those who attended the presentation, those who were shortlisted and those who won. But this event wasn’t about us – it was about them.
“Thank you to everyone who helped to make the inaugural Teesdale Mercury Community Pride Awards such a success. I hope you enjoy reading about people’s achievements.”
The awards were sponsored by Durham County Council, Tilly Bailey & Irvine, Darlington Building Society, Enterprise House and McGarry & Co Solicitors.
Terry Collins, chief executive of Durham County Council, said: “Teesdale is home to not only some of the most breathtaking and spectacular architecture and landscape but to very many warm, wonderful and inspirational people.
“We are proud to be associated with these awards and touched by the dedication of the volunteers, neighbours, organisations, individuals and stories which have come to light thanks to them.”


And the winners were:
Charity fundraiser of the year – Chris Read.
Public Service Award – Judith Tarn.
Contribution to Sport Award – joint winners – John Ashworth and John Raw.
Award for Young Achievement – Leah Hempsall.
Good Neighbour Award – Thomas and Christine Butterfield.
Volunteer of the Year Award – Neville and Brenda Singleton.
Community Project of the Year Award – Middleton in Bloom.
School of the Year – Butterknowle Primary School.
Teesdale Mercury Special Award 2016 – Scarth Hall.
Inspirational Person of the Year – Anita Thompson.