• Covid-19

    • Category: Covid-19 Community Resilience Award

    Penicuik Ambassadors

    Miriam Leighton on 21 May, 2021

    Nominated by: Midlothian Council Communities and Lifelong Learning.

    Penicuik Ambassadors played a critical role in providing support to the community during the 2020 lockdown and continue to do so today. Volunteers provided vital services such as social support, shopping and delivery of prescriptions to those who were shielding. Busy group members also led initiatives such as starting a mask making group, opening a lending library and running a school clothing bank. The Ambassadors have been instrumental in facilitating the localised response to Covid-19 in the Penicuik area. They have proven themselves to be an incredibly active and committed group of resilience volunteers.

    Winner: Volunteering Team of the Year

    Amazing Brains Committee at Art Club

    Miriam Leighton on 21 May, 2021

    Nominated by: Art Club

    The Amazing Brains Committee at Art Club directed the majority of youth work activity in Dalkeith during the pandemic. They meet once a week on Zoom, in parks and in forests to run their meetings and make sure that Art Club remains youth led. During the summer of 2020 they volunteered at the Summer Art Workshop where they risk assessed the site, registered participants and assisted the artists. At Junior Rangers they litter picked, removed invasive species, built fences and increased the biodiversity in the woods. Members also ran a weekly online art exhibition and directed a host of creative activities. What an amazing team of young volunteers!

    Gorebridge Resilience Partnership

    Miriam Leighton on 19 May, 2021

    Nominated by: Gorebridge Development Trust

    Gorebridge Resilience Partnership is a team of local organisations that led the Covid-19 community response in Gorebridge during the pandemic. These volunteers put themselves before the most vulnerable in the local community during what was a frightening and anxious time for everyone. No questions. No hesitation. The group’s work wasn’t just about responding to the crisis of the pandemic; it was also about dignity, respect and community spirit.

    Food Facts Friends Volunteers

    Miriam Leighton on 19 May, 2021

    Nominated by: Food Facts Friends

    The volunteers at Food Facts Friends (FFF) have provided food for the most vulnerable in the community since 2016. They have also risen to the considerable additional challenges and demands of the past year to provide for many others. Working long hours receiving and organising food, making up food bags while following health and safety procedures and doing all the extra cleaning necessary for Covid-19 purposes, they satisfied a huge increase in demand as the closure of other services, furlough and unemployment were felt by the community. Even at the present time, demand is still 4 – 5 times what it was a year earlier, but the FFF volunteers have more than risen to the challenge.

    Grant Stanley

    Miriam Leighton on 19 May, 2021

    Nominated by: Councillor Paulin Winchester, Midlothian Council

    Grant set up a Facebook group called ‘Our Stars Family’ in 2020. The group provided live entertainment every weekend, raised money for numerous good causes and kept people better connected and supported during the pandemic. The group he created wasn’t just an entertainment page – it also turned into an online community where people could chat or express how they were feeling, where someone would always be happy to listen and give support throughout the tough months of lockdown. True to the name of his Facebook group, Grant is an absolute star!

    Vernon Miles

    Miriam Leighton on 19 May, 2021

    Nominated by: Midlothian Voluntary Action

    Vernon has made his mark as a ‘litter picker’ over the past year in Bonnyrigg, inspiring and influencing others in the community to care about the environment so that everyone could enjoy it during lockdown. He only recently moved to Bonnyrigg and has shown a personal commitment to making the community a nicer, safer place for humans and for nature. During a time when many people have felt helpless and found it difficult to see beyond the pandemic, Vernon found an individually powerful way to take environmental action. He deserves to be recognised for that.