Our very own Cheryl receives BBC Make a Difference Award!

We are delighted to share that our very own Cheryl Spruce, Head of Membership and Community Engagement, has received a BBC Make A Difference Award, in the Great Neighbour category. Congratulations Cheryl! We are overjoyed for you, and it is clear that you are a thoroughly deserving recipient of this Award.

Cheryl has written the below, reflecting on her shock and delight in winning this Award...

BBC Radio stations across the UK each have regional “Make a Difference” awards, an opportunity for local people to be recognised for making a difference in their community.  This year, I found out that I was nominated when contacted by the BBC, to say that I had not only been nominated, but I was a finalist and had been invited to attend the awards in September at Broadcasting House in London.

Subsequently, I was very shocked and humbled that someone had taken their time to think of the work that I do in my community. The BBC arranged for me to be filmed and interviewed in August, and it was then that they told me the wording of the nomination. I was nominated not just for my local roles, Greenwich Neighbourhood Watch Network Chair, Safer Neighbourhood Board Chair, Local Ward Panel Chair and many other roles and activities in the community, but also for my role within Neighbourhood Watch Network as Head of Membership and Community Engagement, supporting others to make a difference in their own communities.

On the afternoon of the 25th September, I attended the Award ceremony and was accompanied by my supportive husband Vince. It was wonderful to meet and chat with other people that had been nominated for an award, including some celebrities!

I sat listening to the amazing stories of individuals making a difference in the communities in which they live, and when it came to the Great Neighbour Award, my face appeared on screen and a short video was played along with the other nominees. It was quite funny as we had just recognised the hard work of our own volunteers at the Volunteer Recognition Awards 2024, only a few days previously.

Drum roll….and I was announced as the winner! Shocked and very humbled, I had not prepared an acceptance speech, as I felt there must be more deserving people than me.

I went on stage, with help from the BBC team, as my eyes are playing up, to receive my award from Carrie and David Grant. My speech resembled something like, why me? I congratulated everyone else in the room for their contributions to making a difference in their community and dedicating my award to my hero, my dad, who had sadly passed away earlier that month.

You can read more about the BBC Make a Difference Award winners here.