On Tuesday 2 July, staff, volunteers, trustees and patrons from across BRCC’s teams came together at Warden Abbey Vineyard for its annual summer barbecue celebration.

Our historical and beautiful Vineyard provided the perfect setting for the event as people enjoyed the wonderful food on offer from our great barbecue chefs, as well as our award-winning wine. It was a great opportunity for people to spend time together and see first-hand the hard work the volunteers put into the vineyard.

The 2024 Star Award presentation was a highlight of the event as HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Susan Lousada, with the assistance of Beds RCC CEO Tracy Cowan, presented the awards. Both Highly Commended and Winners for each category were presented with a trophy and certificate, and it was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the hard work of people from across Beds RCC.

Awards

The Beds RCC All Round Good Egg Award

Someone who is a kind, reliable and a generally nice person.

Highly Commended

Debra Aitken
Community Wellbeing Champion

Winner

Katharine Brown
Dunstable Cultural Consortium Project Coordinator & Dunstable Community Halls Administrator

The Very Lovely Volunteer Award

A volunteer who gives their free time to support and promote Beds RCC.

Highly Commended

Joan Barrall, Mary Jones, Deano, Carole Cox

Winner

Aadil Shaikh

The Totally Terrific Team Member Award

A team member who is supportive, helpful and goes out if their way to ensure the team is successful.

Highly Commended

Mae Eaton
Community Wellbeing Manager

Winner

Amanda Higham
Good Neighbour Scheme Support Officer

Green Champion Award

Someone who looks after the environment in everything they do.

Winner

Richard Lawrence
Ecology and Environment Officer

Wellbeing Champion Award

Someone who looks out for other staff members’ wellbeing.

Highly Commended

Alex Goulding
Community Wellbeing Champion

Winner

Kate Ellis
Head of Community and Wellbeing

Extra Mile Award

Someone who goes out of their way to help and support everyone.

Winner

Karen Sharp
Village and Community Agent

The Font of All Knowledge Award

A person who simply knows everything about BRCC and who you can go to if you need to know anything about anything.

Winner

Isobel Keech
Finance and Records Officer

The Best Maker of Beverages

The person who always makes the tea/coffee and does it with a smile.

Winner

Stephen Sleight
Transport Team Leader (Rail)

The Always Look on the Bright Side of Life Award

A person who always manages to find good things in a bad situation.

Winner

Dave Gray
Data and Marketing Manager

The Best of Beds RCC Award

The staff member who encompasses all of Beds RCC’s values and ethos.

Highly Commended

Ann Nichols
Driver/Passenger Transport Assistant

Winner

Jo Barrow
Executive Assistant

Thank you to everyone who put so much hard work into making the event a success, and a huge congratulations to all of those who won a star award.