THE lives of three organisations changed for ever yesterday as they were revealed as the winners of this year’s Flybe Island Heroes Awards.
Thousands of Jersey Evening Post readers voted from a shortlist of nine for their heroes in the categories of education, sport, and charity. The winners, respectively, were St John’s Ambulance (for their Young Carers Support Programme), the Jersey Learning Difficulties football team, and Holidays for Heroes Jersey.
They were each presented with a £10,000 bursary prize, consisting of £5,000 cash and £5,000 Fly-be travel vouchers, by the Lieutenant Governor, Andrew Ridgway, at a special reception held at Government House.
Flybe’s general manager, Ian Taylor, said: ‘These awards are now in their second year, and I’m amazed by the range of superb work all the applicants do. It makes it very difficult for us as judges even to select the shortlist.
‘It’s a great boost to know that this bursary will enable organisations to do things that they wouldn’t have previously been able to do, which is what this is all about — trying to make things happen and do something that makes a difference.’
CHARITY
Holidays for Heroes Jersey
Winning the charity category means that Holiday for Heroes Jersey is edging ever closer to its goal of raising £100,000 to fund more than 200 holidays for badly injured service personnel next year.
‘We’re thrilled and honoured to have won this award,’ said Richard Woodhouse, who founded the charity less than six months ago with his wife Dawn. The main objective is to raise funds to provide a holiday for service personnel who have been injured in mind or body while on active service, because the people we bring over are not in a position to afford one. We set a fund-raising target to help bring people over to the Island to enjoy a week-long break, so the bursary prize that comes with this award is an ideal combination for us to use.
‘Winning is the icing on the cake for us, because it’s been a brilliant few months. It gives us the confidence to book the holidays for next year. We’re extremely grateful to everyone who voted for us, and everyone was so pleased to hear the good news.’
• Picture: Holidays for Heroes Jersey charity volunteers Mary Gaiger, Dawn Woodhouse and Richard Woodhouse. Picture by Jon Guegan (00605496)
EDUCATION
St John Ambulance Young Carers
Success in the education category means that this programme will now be introduced next year with the bonus of being able to offer a UK respite trip for the young carers involved.
The scheme is designed to help under-18s who look after physically or mentally ill parents, disabled siblings, or a parent who abuses drugs or alcohol.
It is believed there could be around 100 young carers in the Island, but ten have so far been identified to take part in the first run of the scheme. Nigel Truscott, Bailiwick director of St John Ambulance, said: ‘We were overjoyed to hear that we had won, but the real winners are the carers.
‘I believe that thousands of people voted overall, so it is a real endorsement for us that so many people support St John Ambulance — and it highlights what standing we have in the community. Everybody is so pleased with the outcome and we can’t wait to start the project, so a big thank-you to the people of Jersey who voted for this initiative.’
• Picture: The Lieutenant Governor chats to some of the St John Ambulance representatives. From left: care manager Lynn Bouchard, support teacher Karen Painter and young carers Monica Hamon (13) and Janine McBain (12) Picture by Jon Guegan (00605494)
SPORT
AS winners of the sport category, this team now has the security of being able to enter the Harrogate Annual Disability Tournament for the next two years.
‘We’re absolutely delighted to win, and when I heard the news it was quite overwhelming. I could feel myself welling up inside because I know that this award is going to such a worthy recipient,’ said Mark Jones, tour organiser.
‘The main thing the money will go towards is our annual trip to the prestigious Harrogate Tournament, which is the biggest in the UK, and features around 50 teams. Having the money secured for that alleviates the pressure to fund-raise and means that we can definitely attend for the next two years.
‘This is a massive bonus for us and something we are very much looking forward to. Due to the fact that we are the sole learning difficulties team over here, we can’t find suitable opposition, so going to a competition like this is so important for the players, who are a credit to Jersey. Winning this award is a massive boost for the club.’
• Picture: Jersey Learning Difficulties football team volunteers Ian Le Maistre, Angie Nicholson, Gary Norman and Mark Jones (00605608)
