I was delighted to
hold an event at Walwick Hall earlier this week in celebration of some of the
winners of my Hexham Constituency Community Champion Awards. I started the
awards last year with the aim of recognising some of the extraordinary
achievements of people around the Hexham constituency, and everyone who
attended the event has made a wonderful difference to their local communities.
One of the highlights
of the afternoon was undoubtedly presenting Elsie Frazer with a Lifetime
Achievement Award. Elsie was a domestic at Hexham Hospital, before becoming a
community carer with Helping Hands. She joined Hexham Hospital’s Hospital
Volunteer Service in 2007 as a Meet and Greet volunteer, undertaking three
shifts per week. Elsie still does two shifts every week, providing a valuable
first point of contact for visitors. She has also completed training for
guiding blind and partially sighted visitors and plays a vital role in the
induction and training of new volunteers at the hospital. Elsie also brings
some much-needed companionship by visiting patients as part of the Wellbeing
Volunteer Programme and she regularly attends volunteering events in the local
area. When asked why she volunteers, Elsie says it is because of “the
satisfaction of helping people”. Elsie is an incredible lady who devotes her
time to helping others and it was an honour to present her with the award.
I really enjoyed the
afternoon celebrating some amazing people who all thoroughly deserve to be
recognised for the work they do. I would also like to thank Gareth Jones at Red Hot Property for his continued sponsorship of the awards. If you know someone you think deserves a
Community Champion Award, please do get in touch and nominate them.
