Haywards Heath Mayor honoured to present the
Covid-19 Community Support Awards at Town Day 2021
The Town Mayor, Cllr Howard Mundin, was delighted and honoured to present the Haywards Heath Covid-19 Community Support Awards to winners, together with local MP, Mims Davies. The Covid-19 Community Support Awards were put together by Haywards Heath Town Council to recognise the work of those who had gone above and beyond to help the community during lockdown.
The first certificate was awarded to local resident, Elizabeth Graydon. Elizabeth received a Certificate of Commendation, not only for her work during the pandemic, but to additionally recognise and thank her for her time, effort and kindness for others over the years.
The second certificate was awarded to Steve Gardiner-Bristow,
who received a Certificate of Commendation for his bravery and commitment to
helping others in spite of being extremely vulnerable himself. Steve was unable to attend as he remained
committed to his work duties.
Category 1:
The Community Group/Organisation (applied) was awarded to Mid Sussex Voluntary Action (MSVA). This organisation received the award as they worked extremely hard to support the voluntary sector during the pandemic, including aiding and supporting the Haywards Heath Covid-19 Mutual Aid group to support those vulnerable and isolating. MSVA’s staff worked in many ways to offer support, often working outside contracted hours to ensure that everyone who needed it could be supported.
Category 2
The Business category (applied) was awarded to Caremark Mid Sussex and Crawley. This organisation has been recognised for staff going ‘above and beyond’ on a daily basis. They always went the extra mile with the highest of standards of care and support for people living in their own homes. They focused on clients physical and mental wellbeing, involving care workers putting themselves at risk.
Category 3
The Community Group/Organisation (nominated) category was won by Haywards Heath Library. The community nominated this organisation to recognise how its staff went to great lengths to continue to provide a service, particularly to those vulnerable and isolating. Staff would do many extra tasks, including going out of their way to personally deliver books to help those isolated and shielding. These trips often meant everything to isolating people and helped to keep spirits up during a very difficult time.
Category 4
The last category for an individual volunteer, nominated by the community, was awarded to Fay Flude. Fay was nominated for showing outstanding efforts to support her team, parents and children. She really led the way, creating her own YouTube channel with wonderful home-made videos and provided regular emails with activities to connect with parents via the online learning portal.
Town Mayor, Cllr Howard Mundin, comments:
“The Covid-19 pandemic brought this community together in a wonderful show of support for each other and it was my absolute honour to present awards to some of the individuals and groups who went that extra mile to ensure the wellbeing of the vulnerable in our town during lockdown. Times like this highlight the resilience and spirit of our community and I would like to say a huge thank each and every one of you who worked so hard to ensure that help was available to those in need during this time. I also give a special thank you to Ryan Andrews & Co Business Performance for kindly sponsoring the Haywards Heath Covid-19 Community Support Awards.
What marvellous people we have in our town! Let’s continue to build on this fantastic community spirit we are so fortunate to have in Haywards Heath and please join me in thanking all those volunteers, community groups and the frontline and key workers, who made an exceptional effort for our vulnerable during the pandemic.”