Community champions honoured at Suffolk awards ceremony

The big picture: The awards, held at Stowmarket's Food Museum on Tuesday, saw 15 winners crowned across various categories, highlighting the breadth of community action in Suffolk.

• The organising bodies, Community Action Suffolk, Suffolk County Council, and Suffolk Association of Local Councils, assessed 163 nominations in total.

• Categories included community awards, council awards, children and young people awards, active community awards, and volunteer awards.

Notable winners:

• BME Suffolk Support Group won the Colonel Probert Award for their work supporting minority communities in Ipswich.

• Youth Zone in Ipswich received the Roddy Macleod Award for Suffolk Youth Club of the Year.

• Lofty Heights Skills Academy claimed the Anne Dunford OBE Award for their work with young people in Ipswich not in education or employment.

• Stacey Phillips from Homestart Suffolk was named Event Organiser of the Year.

• Abi Abidoye received the Outstanding Contribution to Volunteering Award.

Suffolk Community Awards 2024 in photos

What they're saying: Mark Murphy MBE, who presented the awards, said: "I've hosted all sorts of events over the years, but this is one of my favourites. It's so great to see what groups and individuals do to improve their own community. They are a real inspiration."

Hannah Reid, Chief Executive of Community Action Suffolk, added: "These awards are always such a special occasion for us at CAS, not least because they shine a spotlight on the incredible work of groups and individual volunteers who really do so much for our communities behind the scenes."

The bottom line: The Suffolk Community Awards highlight the vital role volunteers and community organisations play in improving life across the county, from supporting minority groups to empowering young people and combating loneliness.