VIDEO: #Love Cramlington 2020 Citizen Of The Year Award

Cramlington Town Councillor David Murray announces the results of the #Love Cramlington 2020 Citizen of The Year Award.

First runner-up is Nichola Wilks

Nichola set up the Stand Side By Side in Cramlington Facebook group in March,  to keep people in touch during lockdown.  

The page information says ‘Think of our group as an extension of your friendly neighbours.’ 

It is a group of members of the community that want to pull together.

The group doesn’t organise volunteers or community actions, it’s strength is that it informs residents of the many initiatives in the town.

Nichola’s nomination said ‘she doesn’t want people to feel lonely and have nowhere to turn if they are feeling worried or stressed’.

The group she set up continues to operate for the benefit of the local community.

They have recently launched their Just Giving Winter Appeal which is raising funds for the food bank.

 

Our next runner-up is Irene Jobson

Irene’s nominations state:

Irene is always seen out and about  – at 83 she does more than most of us combined to help clean up our community and is an inspiration to us all. She goes out litter picking twice a day in all weathers and has been clearing up her neighbourhood for forty years.

She gets up at 5am and walks miles clearing rubbish and scrubbing graffiti.

She has cleared hundreds upon hundreds of bags of rubbish, building friendships along the way. 

Irene loves contributing to and improving the community always with a friendly wave or conversation.

If we all did even 1% of what Irene does each day the community would be the perfect place to live.

Over COVID-19 lockdown Irene has cleared overgrown areas in the village at the rear of the Masonic Hall of weeds. 

She truly is a remarkable Cramlington Citizen.

 

And the winner is…Karin Graydon

Karin works tirelessly for the community.

She cooks lunch in her own kitchen for over 40 people every fortnight. 

During lockdown, it was every week.  She delivered the meals personally and spent time talking to the recipients.

Anything to do with food, she is heavily involved, whether it is the Church, the Hope Centre or the general community. 

 This includes Heavenly Delights which Karin started a lot of years ago and this is held in St Nicholas’ Church on the last Saturday of every month.  All monies go to the Church or charity of the volunteers’ choosing which includes blood bikes and Macmillan nurses.

She is Church Warden and Church Verger both at St Nicholas’ Church in Cramlington and St Nicholas’ Cathedral in Newcastle.

When lockdown was eased, she cleaned St Nicholas’ Church after the Sunday Service.  She also meets and greets church goers every week.

She is a volunteer at the food bank at the Hope Centre.

Cramlington is lucky to have Karin as a resident. Her community spirit shines through and we are delighted to present her with the Citizen Of The Year Award.