Winners gather to be celebrated at Inspiring civic reception

The winners of the 2022 Inspiring Aberdeenshire awards for 2022 gathered last night for a special civic reception in their honour. 

Hosted by the Provost of Aberdeenshire Judy Whyte, the winners in all eight categories gathered at Meldrum House to be presented with their trophies.  

For three years, Inspiring Aberdeenshire has been held virtually. This year it was decided to also host a winner’s reception. This allowed the work of the winners in all categories to be celebrated and gave them a chance to meet councillors, officers, the Provost and sponsors. 

Inspiring Aberdeenshire is a council-run awards ceremony, designed to celebrate the success of people across Aberdeenshire and shine a spotlight on the work they do to keep their communities thriving. It is often the case that the nominees in these awards receive very little recognition otherwise for their great work and are true community heroes. 

Provost Judy Whyte said: “This was my first time hosting the event as Provost. Of course, I have watched it from the comfort of my own home for several years, but it was such a pleasure to be involved. It is so important to recognise our communities, almost more than ever. Being able to celebrate people is such an uplifting experience and I hope that everyone who was watching left with the same feelings of joy and pride that I felt in front of those cameras.

“My warmest congratulations to every one of the finalists this year. How the judging panel were even able to pick winners from such an extraordinary group is incredible in itself.

“Being in the room with our winners was very special, it was lovely to meet them face to face and be reminded of their sterling work, be that at a local or Aberdeenshire-wide level. Congratulations”. 

During the ceremony, the Lord-Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire Sandy Manson took to the stage to present a young tree to Caspar Lampkin, the winner of the environmental award. 

Sandy said: “One of the ways we were marking the Platinum Jubilee was through planting trees as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. Following the passing of Her Majesty The Queen, His Majesty The King wished to extend this special initiative until the end of March 2023 to give people the opportunity to plant trees in memoriam to honour Her Majesty. It was therefore a great pleasure for me to present Caspar with a tree for him to plant as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy not only in recognition of his own valuable contribution to enhancing our environment but also as a fitting tribute to our remarkable Queen.” 

The winners are listed below, and details about what they did are on the Inspiring website.

Community Spirit award - JSK Running Group 

Cultural Award - Benholm & Johnshaven Heritage Society 

Beautiful Aberdeenshire Environmental award - Caspar Lampkin          

Aberdeenshire’s Future - Steven Strachan – Inverurie Academy 

Heart of Aberdeenshire Caring award - Helen Cox 

Local Hero Award - Lorraine Coleman 

Inspirational Volunteer Award - Morag Lightning 

Lifetime Achievement Award  - Marion Bruce 

You can watch a recording of the entire award ceremony on the Aberdeenshire Council YouTube channel.