And with that the ceremony is concluding.

Thank you to everyone who followed along with us tonight, and congratulations to all of our winners.

It has been an inspiring night which we have all been so proud to be part of.

All the winners have been asked to join Bryan on stage before we have a closing performance from Kirsten Adamson.

Make sure to pick up a copy of the Press or Times next week for full coverage and reactions from all our winners.

It’s lovely to see Sarah on the stage. You can tell how much it means to her.

“It was a hard time, my husband had to carry me for a while, it wasn’t easy but I gained a lot in the process, it was 110 per cent for all the families,” she said.

Lastly, we have a Special Recognition for Services to the Community Award.

Dunfermline Press editor Kevin McRoberts is presenting again.

Our judges created this award specially as they felt it was important to reward one of our finalists for her important services to our community, both in Dunfermline and West Fife and in Central Fife.

Sarah Yorke risked the career she spent 10 years building as a funeral director when she turned in her fraudster boss, Barry Stevenson-Hamilton.

Stevenson-Hamilton took in £130,000 from more than 60 customers who thought they were buying pre-paid funeral plans, but instead he kept the money for himself.

The director of Stevenson Funeral Directors Ltd, which had premises in Rosyth, Cowdenbeath and Cardenden, and Funeral (Care) Scotland Ltd admitted forming a scheme to obtain money by fraud, acquiring £130,207 between January 2016 and September 2019.

Stevenson-Hamilton told customers they were buying a pre-paid funeral plan with Avalon Trustee Company Ltd and that the money paid would be held securely by Avalon.

But Sarah, and a co-worker, found documents that showed customers weren’t registered with Avalon, money wasn’t paid to the company and, as a result, they had not purchased a funeral plan.

It took more than three years for Sarah to be promoted back into the position she held while working under Stevenson-Hamilton.

She “maxed out” a credit card trying to make ends meet after leaving the industry, which she struggled to rejoin after others found out what had happened.

It’s been a huge surprise to the volunteers. It’s an emotional win for them.

“I think the people to thank is everybody here, you’ve put the support into it.”

It is now time to announce the special Judges Award.

Dunfermline Press editor Kevin McRoberts is presenting.

Our panel thought long and hard about this decision and wanted to pay tribute to a group which makes a to difference our community.

The award goes to the Outwith Festival team!

Having launched in 2017, Outwith doubled in size in 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic.

Its future was uncertain after the loss of full-time staff at Dunfermline Delivers along with the associated funding, but was revived by the original group of volunteers in 2022.

This year’s line up will include theatre, film, and comedy, while nearly 40 bands will play across city centre venues during an all-day music event.

Judge Ieuan Williams said: “Outwith Festival is always a cultural treat as fans of music, film, art and literature descend on Dunfermline.

“An envy of other cities and towns, the programme of talent never fails to impress and the thousands of people who have attended in recent years can attest to that.

“The city is packed for the five-day event and there’s a real buzz around the centre as visitors dash between venues on Saturday’s live music showpiece.

“Local acts are given a stage to shine on and headline names and faces do what they do best before the night comes to an end.

“It’s the highlight of Dunfermline’s calendar, and those behind the scenes deserve every glowing review they receive.

“Organising a festival is no easy feat and yet they make it look just that.”

Outwith will take place this year from Wednesday, September 6, until Sunday, September 10, with the all-day music event running on Saturday, September 9.

Billy says it is a “massive honour” to win the award and has thanked Jamiee’s family.

“This one’s for Jamiee,” he said.

Finally, before moving on to our special awards of the night, we have the Heart of Gold category, sponsored by Fife Council.

This award goes to someone who has made a contribution of outstanding significance to Central and West Fife. We will be recognising an adult whose actions, achievements, courage or bravery have touched the lives of others and made a difference.

Our finalists are:

· Billy Reekie

· Wendy Page

· Nicole Settle

· Derek Davidson

· Clare Mitchell – Revive Salon

The winner is… Billy Reekie! Congratulations Billy!

Billy helped the family of Dunfermline 17-year-old Jamiee Reynolds to celebrate Christmas early after she was told her chemotherapy had failed while battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

The musician arrived at the ICU with his guitar, having learned one of Jaimee’s favourite songs in the car on the drive to the hospital, and performed for her.

The moment is fondly remembered by Jaimee’s family as just hours later she passed away.

Suzi Ross says before she knew it there were 28 volunteers involved in the group, having revived the peacock population in the Glen eight years ago.

“The peacocks are everything to us,” she said.

The Community Champion of the Year, sponsored by Bandrum Nursing Home, is about to be announced.

This award is aimed at thanking a local individual or group whose actions are a force for good in the community and make our community a better place.

Our finalists are:

· Peacocks in Pittencrieff Park, Peacock Sanctuary

· Andrew Dunlop

· Warm & Well – Revive Wellbeing Hub & Café at The Vine Church

· Sarah Yorke

· Kirsty Baird

· Martin McNair

The winner is Peacocks in Pittencrieff Park! Congratulations!

The Peacocks in Pittencrieff Park group, led by Suzi Ross, has ensured the upkeep and preservation of the peafowl in the Glen for nearly eight years.

They faced a tragedy last year when one of the birds, Malcolm, was killed in an attack on the aviary.

The incident left another, Louis, severely injured.

Louis survived after care from Suzi and another volunteer, Carlyn Cane.

Kirsten says performing live is her lifeline and is “what I am”.

“When you write songs you never write them with the intent to win awards so it’s very unexpected,” she added.

We have now reached the Live Music Award.

Our finalists have been performing for the crowd here and their fellow nominees throughout the night.

They are:

· Noah Brotherton

· Moonlight Zoo

· Kirsten Adamson

· Eve Hind Davidson

This award was open to a local singer, band or group who put their heart and soul into every performance, whose talent makes us all extremely proud.

The winner is… Kirsten Adamson!

Kirsten is the daughter of Big Country’s Stuart Adamson, who she honoured earlier this year by releasing a single titled ‘My Father’s Songs’.

Last year she released a single in aid of children living in war-torn Ukraine.

The song, Peace in Our Time, was written by her dad.

Kirsten launched her second album, ‘Landing Place’, this year and has since been touring across Scotland and the UK.

Noah Brotherton has also received a commendation in this category.

Noah, 12, from Cowdenbeath, has a passion for singing and musical theatre.

He will soon appear in Les Miserables at the Fringe Festival where he will be working with West End director, Sam Hiller.

He took part in The Next Big Thing talent competition in Glasgow where he placed in both the Juniors category and People’s Choice vote.

Before we move on to the next set of awards we are going to have an acoustic performance from our last Live Music Award finalist Moonlight Zoo.

Moonlight Zoo were the first winners of the Live Music Award in 2015. They went on to win $15,000 at the global Hard Rock Cafe Battle of the Bands competition in 2019 and in the past year have performed at Murrayfield twice and appeared on CBBC’s Saturday Mash Up! They have also recently released two songs, ‘If Only’ and ‘Behind the Times’.

Dave, better known as Duloch Spiderman, says he is motivated by the fun of his role and the reactions of children to his work.

We are now moving on to the award for our Charity Champion of the Year.

This award is for an individual or group who have dedicated their lives to supporting an amazing cause.It is a chance to recognise the incredible work they undertake tirelessly.

Our finalists are:

· Roseann Haig, Circle of Comfort – Commendation

· Rachel Brown

· Dave Roper

· Vivian Maeda

· James Fox

And the winner is… Dave Roper!

Dave Roper gained the Duloch Spiderman title after pounding the streets in lockdown to cheer local kids up.

He has since raised thousands for charity and recently returned from an expedition to Mount Everest Base Camp.

In 2021, he appeared on BBC’s One Show to receive One Big Thank You after raising £71,000 for Calaiswood School.

Roseann Haig has also received a commendation in this category.

Roseann founded the Circle of Comfort charity to provide funded complementary therapy treatments to people with traumatic and life-changing cancer diagnoses.

After working in Complementary Therapy for 30 years, she understands the advantages of integrating complementary therapy with traditional medicine.

The charity provides therapies for people at home rather than making them travel to a clinic or hospital.

Robyn is speechless. She has paid tribute to the “amazing” other finalists in her category.

She says the secret to her success is loving what she does.

The Entrepreneurial Award is now being presented.

This category celebrates a person or a business who have demonstrated a special entrepreneurial flair, and has turned this passion to help grow their local community.

The award is being presented by Dunfermline Press news editor, Ally McRoberts.

Our finalists are:

· Dhoom

· Estia Soaps

· Adele Johnson Coaching Ltd

· Kalopsia Collective

· Robyn Drummond Fitness

The winner is Robyn Drummond Fitness! Well done Robyn!

When Covid-19 hit, Robyn designed an online membership platform initially for free to keep people connected, active and positive.

What started as a free Facebook community group of 20 members, turned into am award-winning, low-cost health and fitness membership with over 1,000 members in the first eight months before the Robyn Drummond Fitness app was launch in May.

Next we have Young Enterprise Champion of the Year, sponsored by TechnipFMC.

This award recognises young people who have succeeded in starting an enterprise, creating benefits for themselves and for their communities. This award celebrates the work accomplished by a young person demonstrating good business skills.

Our finalists are:

· Jamie Stewart

· Louis King

· Boards for Bairns

The winner is… Boards for Bairns! Congratulations!

Nathan Graham took on a coast-to-coast walk of the USA for Boards for Bairns, travelling a massive 3,000 miles.

He had decided to do the walk first before deciding to do it for the benefit of the charity.

Boards for Bairns aim to gift skateboards to children to help them pursue their interest in skating, and give them an outlet.

Kenny says that without the club neither he, nor James, would be standing on the stage right now.

James says two years ago he joined on the back of his own struggles with mental health and paid tribute to his wife and family.

We are back and the Health and Care Award – a new addition for 2023 – is about to be announced.

This aims to recognise the incredible health and care workers both at individual and team level, who are at the heart of our local community.

It is being presented by Central Fife Times editor, Ieuan Williams.

Our finalists are:

· Jamie Hinley

· Caroline Norris

· Pierette Melville

· Saline First Responders

· Andy’s Man Club, Kenny Armour & James Scade

· Bandrum Nursing Home Staff Team

And the winner is… Andy’s Man Club, Kenny Armour and James Scade! Congratulations!

Kenny Armour and James Scade are instrumental in their work as facilitators for Andy’s Man Club which is a peer-help drop in group for men.

Kenny has supported the growth of the groups across Fife.

James was instrumental in establishing the Cowdenbeath group and owes his life to the support network after his own troubles.

We are getting ready to announce some more awards, but first our host Bryan Burnett is presenting the raffle alongside Central Fife Times editor, Ieuan Williams.

We are getting ready to give out more awards here at the Glen Pavilion.

First we have a performance from Live Music Award finalist Eve Davidson.

Eve, from Dalgety Bay, attends the University of the West of Scotland and started 2023 by performing at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow for its new year celebrations. In 2022 she performed at Immecke Festival in Germany for her first gig outside of Scotland. She is a regular face around Dunfermline’s music scene and released her first EP, ‘Ghosts’, last year.

Dinner is now being served. I will be back after a short break when we get back to presenting the awards.

Noah Brotherton, 12, from Cowdenbeath, has a passion for singing and musical theatre.

He will soon appear in Les Miserables at the Fringe Festival where he will be working with West End director, Sam Hiller.

He took part in The Next Big Thing talent competition in Glasgow where he placed in both the Juniors category and People’s Choice vote.

That’s us for the first half of our award presentations and it’s time for our next live performance.

Taking to the stage is Noah Brotherton, another of our Live Music Award finalists.

The volunteers are thrilled with the recognition, they said: “We are so grateful that we can give back to the community and our efforts are recognised.”

Our last category to be presented before dinner is the Youth Community Champion award, sponsored by Stagecoach.

For this award we were looking for a young person between the ages of 13 – 18 who volunteers and makes a significant contribution to their local community.

Our finalists are:

· St Columba’s High School – Young Enterprise Clothing Bank Charity

· Saline Primary School – Saline’s Fabulous Food Pantry

· Dunfermline Police Scotland Youth Volunteers

The winner is Dunfermline Police Scotland Youth Volunteers! Congratulations!

Dunfermline Police Scotland Youth Volunteers have contributed a huge 891 hours supporting West Fife communities in the past 12 months.

The team of 20 have started numerous campaigns and supported multiple community events such as Picnic in the Park at Pittencrieff Park, Outwith Festival, and Inverkeithing Highland Games.

Rosyth boxing star Niamh has enjoyed a history-making year.

The 16-year-old Dunfermline High School pupil, and Bowhill Miners Amateur Boxing Club member, became the first female to win gold for Scotland at a major international competition when she won the 52kg light bantamweight title at the EUBC (European Boxing Confederation) European Championships.

That success, which came just over three years since she took up the sport, also saw her become only the second Scot in history to win gold at that competition, and only the seventh, male or female, to do so at any level of European competition.

She has also gone on to headline the first-ever all-female boxing show held in Scotland, and has collected a GB Youth 54kg title.

Niamh says the last year has been a “whirlwind” and that she is grateful for the opportunities she has had.

We are now moving on to the Sporting Champion of the Year award.

Our presenter for this award is Dunfermline Press sports reporter, Ross Hart.

This award was open to local clubs and individuals who make an impact on local sport, either on the pitch or off it.

Our finalists are:

· Kimberley Fraser Inverkeithing United 2014s

· Billy Bunyan

· Dunfermline RFC U15

· Niamh Mitchell

· Valleyfield F.C.

And the winner is… Niamh Mitchell! Congratulations Niamh.

Liam says he was feeling scared before the ceremony tonight, but is clearly thrilled to be up on the stage.

Lola is “very excited”. She’s a bit lost for words!

Little Freddie is after the microphone but it is his mum Nicole who has thanked the Press for our coverage of her son’s story.

Luca is looking brilliant in his little kilt. His mum is reading a small speech on his behalf. He says it is for all children with cerebal palsy: “We can do anything!”

Next up we will be announcing our Little Champion of the Year.

This award aims to recognise an outstanding child up to the age of 13 whose achievements, courage or bravery make your heart burst with pride.

Our finalists are:

· Liam Taylor

· Lola Stevenson

· Jamie Tierney

· Freddie Settle

· Luca Kobelt

Of course, it was far too difficult for our judging panel to choose just one of these little heroes.

Liam, Lola, Jamie, Freddie and Luca are all our Little Champion of the Year 2023.

Liam Taylor has undergone a total of 14 brain surgeries in his life so far and will need more in the future. He was born with Spina Bifida and has inspired his family and everyone he meets with his determination.

Lola Stevenson has struggled with her confidence but hasn’t let that stop her excelling in aerial dance.

She gained herself a spot on the Upside Down Arts Elite Team and brought home a gold medal in her first show.

Wee Jamie Tierney is four-years-old and suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Since their son’s diagnosis, his parents have been fundraising for treatment in South America and the USA. Jamie has taken it like a champ and remained a happy and smiley boy throughout the process.

Freddie Settle has been reading the Press since he was just a year-and-a-half old! He has autism and hyperlexia – meaning he started to read from an early age – and can speak multiple languages. He inspired his mum, Nicole, to launch a support groups for children with additional needs.

Luca Kobelt was born prematurely and suffered from sepsis, meningitis and a brain haemorrhage.

He has since been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, a group of lifelong conditions which affect movement and co-ordination.

Last October the brave toddler joined his mum, Vivian, in the last 400 metres of the race for Cerebral Palsy Scotland in his foot splints, which he has struggled to wear.

Jemma says it means a huge amount to help young carers, especially after many of them lost support during the pandemic.

She is looking forward to telling her students about her win!

Kicking off this year’s Dunfermline Press and Central Fife Times community champion awards is the Champion Teacher of the Year award.

This award recognises teachers who are bringing learning to life by engaging and inspiring all children and young people to fulfill their potential.

Our finalists are:

· Jemma Thomas – Crossgates Primary School

· Amanda McLuckie – Octotots

· Lisa Gibson – Studio X

· Jen Turner – Studio X

The winner is Jemma Thomas! Congratulations Jemma.

Jemma Thomas took over as the Crossgates Primary School Young Carers Champion in August of 2019. Since then she has created a sector leading support programme for young carers in the community.

Dunfermline Press editor Kevin McRoberts is now giving his welcome speech.

He has expressed his pride of all those nominated tonight and the work they do for our communities.

Our host for the evening, Bryan Burnett, is now kicking things off.

Bryan is currently best known for his work with BBC Radio Scotland.

He currently presents Get It On, a music requests show whereby listeners submit requests based on a particular theme.

Speaking earlier this month he said “inspiration is the word” when speaking about events like our Community Champion awards.

He added: “We are all products of our communities, all the experiences you have when you have grown up are what make you the person you are later in life.

“I wouldn’t be doing the job I am doing had it not been for a really inspiring teacher at school who went out of his way to make sure that we all had a bit of self belief and that the kind of life that you dreamed about actually could be yours.”

We are starting the evening with a performance from Live Music Award finalist Kirsten Adamson.

Kirsten is the daughter of Big Country’s Stuart Adamson, who she honoured earlier this year by releasing a single titled ‘My Father’s Songs’. Last year she released a single in aid of children living in war-torn Ukraine. The song, Peace in Our Time, was written by her dad. Kirsten launched her second album, ‘Landing Place’, this year and has since been touring across Scotland and the UK.

Welcome to our live updates of the Dunfermline Press and Central Fife Times Community Champion Awards.

I will keep you updated throughout the night as we announce our winners.