These awards have been rewarding locals who make Glasgow a better place to live for 15 years. The awards go right to the heart of communities across the city, from the north east, south and north west, before bringing the area finalists together at the end of the year for an overall, city-wide celebration.
So far, more than 1,000 community champions have been recognised as finalists and winners. Our community champions are recognised across nine categories to ensure that local heroes of all types are identified. The range of categories, paired with our area-by-area approach, gives the awards a unique ability to reach and reward those whose efforts may otherwise go unnoticed.
#GlasgowChamps
Countdown to Grand Final –
Bio coming soon
The Trades House of Glasgow was created at the time of reform of Glasgow’s local government in 1605. At that time the electorate was essentially divided into two groups: the Merchants and the Craftsmen. The Craft Incorporations were led by the Deacon Convener who was given a council seat which is retained to this day, but no longer has speaking or voting rights.
Trades House was established to help protect and support the Crafts people of the City. Over the centuries it housed the Trades Free School for boys and girls, worked closely with educational establishments within the City to support initiatives when appropriate and used Funds built up following donations from generous benefactors to assist those in need.
Today, Trades House is a charity focusing on both Educational Initiatives and supporting people in need. We give donations of more than £750,000 annually to deserving causes and individuals.
To achieve this, we have built strong relationships with establishments from nurseries to universities working to motivate and assist those in learning from pre-schoolers to apprentices. We also work closely with third sector groups to ensure the donations and funds we distribute are given to worthwhile causes and the individuals that will benefit the most.
The Trades House still meets in the Trades Hall in Glassford Street, which, apart from the medieval cathedral, is the oldest building in Glasgow used for its original purpose.
Wheatley Homes Glasgow, formerly known as Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), is Scotland’s largest social landlord, with almost 43,000 affordable homes in Glasgow. It is part of Wheatley, Scotland’s leading housing, care and property-management group.
Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. Around 60,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2021, Merck generated sales of € 19.7 billion in 66 countries. Our BioReliance® testing services, with premises in Glasgow, offer exceptional solutions to help our customers bring life-changing drugs to market.
Sponsorship of the awards is a unique opportunity to promote your brand and help us reward Glasgow’s local heroes. If you would like more information on the opportunities available, please contact Nina Holmes, Head of Events on Nina.Holmes@newsquest.co.uk or 07500 998 357.
This award will be presented to a team or group of volunteers who make a difference to their community by improving amenities or raising the quality of life for residents. This category is open to charities or voluntary organisations who, for example, may be involved in fundraising for better facilities or organising community events. We are looking for evidence of how this work has made the community a better or safer place to live.
This award will be presented to someone who, by giving up their free time, has made a significant contribution to other people’s lives or to their community. For example, this individual may run a local club, campaign for better services for their area, tackle environmental issues or clean up their communities. We want to hear inspirational stories.
This award recognises a public service team or individual making an outstanding contribution to the community in which they work. We want to hear about people who have gone above and beyond to provide a vital service for people in the local area.
This category will recognise an extraordinary team or individual from the uniformed services. It could be a person you turn to in times of crisis or a team who is responsible for keeping your community safe. They may have gone above and beyond the call of duty or make an outstanding contribution to help those they serve.
We are looking for a local hero or team from the 60 and over age group who, after many years of hard work, continue to devote much of their time to helping other individuals or groups in their community. We want to hear about and reward the work of those special older citizens.
This will reward a group of young people or an individual aged 17 or under. They may have made a difference to their community or have inspired others through their achievements. This could be through fundraising, campaigning on issues which are important to young people or helping others less fortunate.
This award will recognise groups or projects which promote the improvement of health and wellbeing within their communities. It could be an initiative which promotes healthy lifestyles or provides support to help people stop smoking. It may be a project which offers advice, counselling and support for those with health issues. The category is open to all charities or voluntary organisations, community groups and individuals.
This category has been introduced to recognise those working at grass roots level to encourage participation in sport and improve the fitness of Glasgow’s citizens. It could be a club which promotes sporting, social and recreational opportunities. Or it may be an outstanding coach who inspires people in the community to be more active. The category is open to all charity, voluntary or public organisations, community groups, and individuals.
This category was introduced last year. It will be awarded to a school – nursery, primary, secondary or assisted support for learning – which can demonstrate the exceptional contribution it has made to its local community. This could be, for example, through offering clubs or groups that have become an integral part of the community.
Once you have decided on the category, or categories, you would like to enter, please complete an entry form.
You can submit an entry online by clicking the ‘Enter Now’ button below or if you would like to be able to save your form and come back to it, please click ‘Download Entry Form’ and submit it by email when ready.
If you have any questions regarding the entry process, please see the FAQ section below or get in touch via the details at the bottom of this page.
Ruchazie Pantry
South WestArts and mUSIC project (SWAMP)
The Courtyard Pantry
Individual Award
Amanda Smith
Kenny Trainer, Bluevale Community Club
Laura Torrance, Spinal Cord Injuries Scotland
Public Service Award
Glasgow’s Golden Generation
Men Matter Scotland
Youth Initiatives Scotland
Glasgow South Campus Officers
PC Natalie Pollock
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Police Campus Officers
Thomas McCallum and Courtney Elaine Braceline, Scottish Ambulance Service
Willie Anderson and Scott Diamond, Scottish Ambulance Service
Senior Award
Annabell Palmer, Great Pollok Services
Jean Menzies, Carntyne Sunshine Club
Milton Rattlers
Young Award
Emmanuel Gebreyes
Kodie Stewart
Megan McCloskey
Growing Together
Jiggly Joggers
Urban Youth Project
Castlemilk Community Football Trust
Glasgow Gals Cycling Club
Sparta Trampoline Club
Lochend Community School
Haghill Park Primary School and Nursery Class
Shawlands Primary School
St Albert’s Primary School
Lord Provost’s Special Recognition Award
To be announced at the Grand Final on Thursday, December 8
Lord Provost Councillor Jacqueline McLaren
Glasgow City Council
Ann Fotheringham
Senior Features Writer, Glasgow Times
The Glasgow Times Community Champion Awards 2022 will take place on Thursday, December 8 at Glasgow City Chambers.
The evening includes the official event programme, entertainment and the awards presentation, as well as the opportunity to network with other attendees.
The event will be hosted by Amy Irons.
This year’s event will follow the same format as 2021. Members of the public will be able to vote for their local community champions. See below timeline and format.
Amy Irons is a successful RTS nominated Scottish TV and radio presenter, journalist, voiceover artist and event host.
She’s become a familiar face on Scottish TV presenting on some of the biggest programmes in recent years including Not Quite End Of the Year Show 2021 and Hogmanay 2019 on BBC One Scotland and the BBC’s Sports Personality Of The Year 2019 red carpet and after show party programmes.
Amy can currently be seen on Scotland’s flagship news programme, The Nine where she is the lead sports presenter. She has covered some of the biggest sporting stories in recent years and during her time covering the Women’s World Cup made appearances on both Radio 1 and BBC Five Live.
She also hosts The Adventure Show on BBC Scotland where she explores Scotland’s thriving adventure sports scene – from mountain biking and kayaking to adventure racing, surfing and mountain marathons.
Before breaking into TV Amy was already popular with audiences as one of the hosts on the hugely successful Capital Breakfast Show. Within months of Amy joining the new line-up achieved the highest listening figures the show had ever seen and was subsequently shortlisted at the ARIA awards as one of the best breakfast shows in the UK.
Amy also fronts a weekly entertainment news programme on BBC Scotland on BBC One called The Edit, which has featured interviews with some of the biggest names in showbiz.
Amy received great reviews after presenting BBC 5 Live breakfast alongside Nicky Campbell and Rachel Burden as part of twenties takeover day. She has made appearances on flagship football programme Sportscene and has presented Radio Scotland’s most popular show, Off The Ball.
For Amy, her career started at West FM where she worked as a news and sports reporter. Amy then moved to STV where she worked as a presenter and reporter covering some of the biggest news stories of recent times; including the Scottish Independence and European Referendum, as well the Refugee crisis in Calais, France.
Amy has hosted events and worked for the likes of the Princes Trust, The Scottish Italian Awards, The Scottish Wholesale Awards, The Royal Bank of Scotland, House of Fraser, M&D’s and Motherwell FC.
Interested in finding out who has been shortlisted and won these awards in the past? Download our previous winners PDF
Anyone can nominate a team/project/individual from any of the regions in Glasgow.
Not only does being shortlisted (or better yet, winning) an award mean you will be recognised as a community champion, it is also a major morale boost for you or your workforce and is a great PR opportunity both at the event and long after. If you win, you will also receive a trophy for your display cabinet!
You must complete our entry form to submit a nomination. Head to the ‘How to Enter’ section above for instructions.
You can submit as many nominations as you like across the different categories. The categories and the criteria for each can be found in the ‘Categories’ section above.
The entry deadline is Wednesday 28th September.
It is free to enter the awards. Tickets for the grand award ceremony are invite only.
Once you have submitted an entry, we will add your nomination to the entry pack for consideration. A sifting session will take place in October to shortlist nominations from each region before going to a public vote. The results from the public vote will feed into a final judging session.
Visit https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/community-champion-awards/ to cast your vote before Tuesday, November 1
The results from the public vote will decide the winners from each region. A final judging session will then take place in November to decide the overall winners, who will be announced at the grand final in Glasgow City Chambers in December.
The shortlist will be listed in the Glasgow Times and on this website in November.
The winners will be announced at our glittering awards ceremony on Wednesday 7th December at the Glasgow City Chambers. The awards ceremony is invite only.
We are happy to answer any additional questions you may have regarding the entry process or event. Please contact Events Manager, Linsey Hunter on 0141 302 6019 or linsey.hunter@newsquest.co.uk with any enquiries.
Please see map below showing each region – North West, North East & South.
If you have any questions or need more information on the awards, please contact Nina Holmes, Head of Events, on 07500 998 357 or Nina.Holmes@newsquest.co.uk.
#GlasgowChamps