Help us find a host of new heroes for the Best of South Tyneside Awards

The annual Best of South Tyneside Awards are back and we won’t rest until we have found those inspirational people who make a difference to so many lives.

Now’s the time to put the unsung stars of your neighbourhoods in the running for honours.

Is there a role model, a carer, or a child who you think shows incredible courage? Do you want to honour a community stalwart who goes the extra mile to help others without asking for acknowledgement.

Is there a child of achievement who has gone that extra length to achieve their targets?

Or is there a young stage star who would deserve to win the Young Performer of the Year category.

All these and more will be honoured in our annual awards where you can make all the difference.

We want you to get involved. You can do that by putting forward nominations for everything from sports team of the year to entrepreneur of the year, and community group to fundraiser.

You have plenty of time to come forward with the names of those you want to see in the running. Once we pass the competition deadline, a panel of judges will meet to draw up the shortlist.

Then it’s on to the grand finale at the Roker Hotel where we will be revealing the winners on Wednesday, September 19.

It promises to be a fantastic occasion and we can look forward to it with the backing of a string of fantastic backers.

The Best of South Tyneside awards, this year, have the backing of Barbour; Harlow Printing Limited; JML; BT South Tyneside; Northumbrian Water and The Customs House.

Watch out for more details on them in the days to come.

In the meantime, let’s start that process of honouring all those unsung stars. We know there are heroes galore out there who are worthy of awards.

The finals evening also feature the ever-popular Young Performer category. Whoever wins will be following in the footsteps of last year’s winner Ellie Stephenson.

So now all we need are entries for this year’s awards and we want you to inundate us with impressive nominations.

Let’s make this a year when the judges have a tough task when it comes to drawing up the shortlist because the standard of entries is so high.

To nominate, send your entries by email to: [email protected] or posted to: Lynn Wild, Alexander House, Second Floor, Rainton Bridge Business Park, Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland, DH4 5RA.

There are plenty of categories to choose from in this year’s Best of South Tyneside competition.

So take a look through and decide which one applies to your own favourite - and then be sure to nominate them using the nomination details elsewhere on the page.

Get your nomination in as soon as you can as that way, you know you’ve put an unsung hero in the running for honours.

THE CATEGORIES

Role Model

Neighbour of the Year

Greener South Tyneside

Child of Achievement

Fundraiser of the Year.

Entrepreneur of the Year.

Carer of the Year.

Sporting Excellence

Sporting Excellence/ Young Sportsperson of the Year

Sports Team of the Year

Community Champion

Student of the Year

Community Group

Volunteer of the Year

Child of Courage

Young Performer of the Year

Lifetime Contribution