On Thursday 4 September, staff, volunteers, trustees and patrons from across Beds RCC’s teams came together at Warden Abbey Vineyard for its annual summer barbecue celebration and Star awards.

Despite some ominous clouds at the start, the weather turned out very pleasant in the end and made for a lovely afternoon with friends and colleagues. Warden Abbey Vineyard provided the perfect setting for the event.

As always, the team got to enjoy some wonderful food thanks to our barbecue chefs and home cooks. It was also a great opportunity for everyone to see first-hand the hard work of the Warden Abbey volunteers in the vineyard.

The 2025 Star Award presentation was led by Beds RCC Chair, Paula Grayson, with the assistance of Beds RCC Chief Executive Cliff Andrews. Both Winners and Highly Commended 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 Green Champion Award

Winner

Nicola Scholfield
Green Social Prescribing Officer

The Wellbeing Champion Award

Winner

Mandy Adger
Community Wellbeing Champion

Highly Commended

Shani Smithwaite
Community Wellbeing Champion

The Extra Mile Award

Winner

Parvin Masih
Community Transport Operations Officer

Highly Commended

Alex Costa
Digital Project Support Officer

Gemma Aylen
You Can Do IT! Coordinator Bedford

The Best of Beds RCC Award

Winner

Alex Goulding
Community Wellbeing Champion

Highly Commended

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!