The Citizen of Southend Awards, sponsored by Southend Radio and Adventure Island, may be cancelled due to a lack of nominations.
The awards scheme, in which people who make outstanding contributions to their community, or performs acts of selfless kindness or courage, has been open for nominations since 1st February this year. The closing date is 30th June, but there are only a few nominations so far.
Adventure Island Executive Chairman Phillip Miller, who is part of the judging panel for the awards, has made a plea to Southend people to nominate someone they think deserves recognition.
Mr Miller said: “We have sent leaflets to hundreds of people, have posters all over the town and have done extensive marketing and PR, all with huge support from Southend Council, so it’s not like people do not know about the Awards, they just don’t seem to be interested, which is a terrible shame.
“The whole ethos of Citizen of Southend was to give a special award to people who had given of themselves to help others and say a huge thank you to them.
“It is about reminding the whole community that we all have a role to play in helping others.
“Therefore it’s a really sad state of affairs if people can’t take the time to say thank you or appreciate what others do for them.
“In an attempt to get more young people involved we have decided to increase the prize for the Youth category from a £100 to £250 prize; surely that’s worth winning?
“Unfortunately if we do not get any more entries then we will not be able to go ahead with the awards, which will be very disheartening for everybody.”
Others on the judging panel include former Southend MP Teddy Taylor and Southend councillor Ian Robertson.
To nominate someone you know, you can fill in a form online at www.citizenofsouthend.co.uk.
The awards will be presented by the Mayor of Southend during a special ceremony at his official residence, Porters, on 28 September 2010.
The winner of the Gold Adult award will receive a personalised trophy and £500.
The Youth section’s Gold winner will receive a commemorative prize and cheque for £250.
Both winners will also have their names engraved on a special Citizen of Southend board outside the Council Chamber in the Civic Centre.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by RCharman, Councilbust. Councilbust said: Citizen of Southend Awards under threat http://bit.ly/czNP3Z [...]
I live in Westcliff and have never heard about these awards, so clearly the marketing and PR wasn’t quite extensive enough.