Stone's heroes could be honoured through new award scheme put forward by mayor

Councillor Jonathan Powell, who took on the chain of office in May, is calling for those who go the extra mile for fellow residents to be recognised at the annual Civic Dinner.

At Tuesday’s town council meeting he suggested categories for a Heroes of Stone Award celebrating individuals, community stalwarts, teams, young people and environmental work.

He said: “The idea is to recognise people in Stone who may get overlooked. We could hold it at the Civic Dinner at the end of the Mayoral year and I would suggest the judges would be the Mayor and Mayoress, Deputy Mayor, Mayor from the previous year and the Mayor’s Chaplain.

“I would like to get this in place for the future so that every Mayor can recognise people in their year.”

Fellow councillors backed the plans and asked Councillor Powell to come up with some more detailed plans to put forward at a future meeting.

Councillor Rob Kenney said: “We used to have something not too dissimilar. I like the idea of having it at the Civic Dinner – having an individual event would cost more money and it allows the person receiving the award more prestige by receiving it at the dinner.”

Councillor Jill Hood said: “I think it is an excellent suggestion. I can think of people who have gone above and beyond what is expected of them

“There are thousands of people who deserve what we are putting forward and they are the kind of people who don’t come forward.”

Stafford Borough Council’s Community Awards have been running for five years and are currently open for nominations until September 20.

Categories include community action, social wellbeing and sporting achievement and the council is expecting a flurry of submissions as a result of the many good deeds carried out by residents and organisations during the pandemic. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in November.

Councillor Jeremy Pert, cabinet member for communities and health at Stafford Borough Council, said: “This is such a great opportunity to recognise those people within our borough who put others before themselves and help make our area a great place to live, work and visit.

“In the face of another challenging 12 months we have seen great things from many individuals, volunteers, groups and businesses.

“I expect the heroics from our community will see us with lots of nominations – and the most difficult task will be determining a winner, because they are all deserving of our heartfelt thanks, recognition and respect.

“Like many events over the previous year our awards ceremony had to be run virtually in 2020 – and it was still amazing to see so many inspirational people and hear about all the selfless work they were doing for the benefit of others.

“Their work often goes unnoticed, so these awards give us the opportunity to pay tribute to them and demonstrate that we value all that they do.”