Hillingdon Community Awards 2022 winners

25 local heroes were announced winners of the 2022 Hillingdon Community Awards. Congratulations to all our winners and to everyone nominated.

Special Recognition Award

Brian 'Bob' Beeston: The Civic Medal (the second highest award after the Freedom of the Borough) was awarded to Bob for his lifetime commitment to helping and supporting young people.

Susan Setterfield: For protecting school staff from COVID-19 by making scrubs, hats and more than 450 masks and donating the money raised to nine charities.

Dee Lennon: For overcoming personal difficulties during lockdown to return to work and inspire her students at school.

Samantha Queen: For supporting her community by delivering food packages to those shielding. Samantha raised £1,000 for Ickenham Village Hall to help fund a defibrillator unit and teamed up with Ickenham Bikewise to donate food to Hillingdon Foodbank.
Nimesh Pattani: For getting involved in and supporting community initiatives, such as tree planting, local events and litter picking, despite his learning difficulties. Volunteering has helped Nimesh grow in confidence, make new friends, find employment, and make a significant contribution to Hillingdon.

The Silver Fox Memory Group: For supporting residents with dementia and other conditions such as brain tumours and cancer. They raised £27,000 to support dementia friendly initiatives and during the pandemic ensured residents with dementia were supported.

Alexander and Daniel Bisland: For volunteering throughout the pandemic every Saturday (and Friday nights during the first lockdown) at a local foodbank. They also organised activities, such as litter picks and a car wash to buy Christmas presents for a local care home.

Angela Cox: For organising afternoon teas for local elderly people; running career days and after school clubs to teach youngsters life skills; and gathering 200 volunteers to transform the gardens of four care homes for residents.
Ruislip and Eastcote Arts and Crafters: For bringing happiness to the community by creating street art via their post box toppers. The colourful creations coincided with calendar events, such as Easter and Remembrance Day, and brought communities together, created a trail for children to follow and classes were introduced to teach crochet.

Bhim Tamang: For supporting the Gurkha Nepalese residents in Hillingdon and west London - helping them with claiming benefits, getting pensions, learning English and accessing health care.
Nicola Setterfield: For more than 30 years Nicola has been involved in and currently runs a local Brownie unit. During the lockdowns, she made and delivered activity bags to all the girls and continued to run the virtual meetings for which the girls used the resources from the activity bags. She also raised more than £5,000 for local and national charities and made 120 scrub bags for the NHS.

Gretta Batts: For creating a safe haven for women to get support and make new friends through coffee, walks and cinema trips. The 'Hillingdon friendship ladies' has been a lifeline for many during the pandemic, who have now gained the confidence to meet up for different types of events and many lasting friendships have, and are still being, established.
Julie Spittle: For more than 15 years, Julie has been devoted to enriching the lives of children at the Jack and Jill parent and toddler group and as Brown Owl of the 2nd Ickenham Brownie pack. Julie dedicates her time to the care and development of children, and is loved by parents and children in Ickenham.
Jane Turnbull: Jane organises events that help bring a strong sense of community to the area but also raise funds that are reinvested into local projects. Jane is also a very active green spaces volunteer and is often seen working hard to maintain these spaces for the local community.

Simon Dyke: For 25 years' service with the 12th Ruislip Scout Group helping young people develop life skills. Simon dedicated his time during the lockdowns to producing fun, educational and practical online sessions for the Scouts.

Jane Taylor: For her years of service to the residents of Harmondsworth and beyond. As well as campaigning to save people's homes under threat from the proposed third runway at Heathrow, Jane tackles numerous problems, from housing difficulties to road safety, for local residents.

Hillingdon Litter Pickers: Since 2020, the group has grown to encompass more than 800 active members, who organise litter picking events spanning Hillingdon parks, canals and roads that help to improve the local environment

South Ruislip Litter Pickers: They have consistently litter picked for the past 5 years, come rain or shine, on average collecting 58kg. The group provides fun, fitness and friendship while helping to keep South Ruislip litter free.
Tidy Harefield Volunteers: This group has been picking up litter on the first Saturday of the month for more than 10 years.  Whatever the weather they work hard to keep the village looking tidy.
Marie and Bob Earley: Marie and her partner Bob spend their own time litter picking throughout the borough. Both retired pensioners, the pair think a lot of their community as they've both lived here for 50+ years.  
Lesley Crowcroft: Lesley spearheaded the Friends of Eastcote House Gardens volunteer group, which has worked with the council to deliver the Eastcote House Gardens restoration project and Long meadows. Lesley has gathered a group of dedicated residents to support the council in maintaining Eastcote's green spaces.

David Odonkara: For promoting mental and physical health during the pandemic by providing free exercise sessions at Colham Green Park.

David Gentry: In 2020, David received the British Citizen Award at Westminster Palace for his charity work and work with children in schools in the borough educating them on the dangers and effects of street/knife crime and bullying. David walked a total of 150 miles raising £2,200 pounds for the NHS, and ran free online classes for his martial arts and football students during the lockdowns to keep them active and occupied. 
Shirley Gore: For tirelessly and enthusiastically running the Rusty Bike Cafe in Fassnidge Park, Uxbridge as an unpaid volunteer and supporting the Recycle-A-Bike charity that provides work opportunities and training for people with mental health issues.

Page last updated: 16 Jun 2023

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