The Oldham Sports Awards 2019- the countdown is on

The countdown is on for the glitzy presentation evening at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldhamers are now being urged not to miss out on their chance to celebrate with their local sporting heroes at the 2019 Oldham Sports Awards.

The great and the good of the borough's sporting fraternity will converge at the QE Hall on Friday, September 20th 2019.

This year marks the 17th annual award ceremony.

The event allows people from different sporting backgrounds to unite as a community and appreciate each other's efforts in order to help improve the local area, while also congratulating and celebrating the accomplishments of the borough's biggest sporting heroes.

Winners from the Sport's Awards - there are eight categories - will go on to represent the borough at the Greater Manchester Sports Awards later in the year.

The award categories this year are Unsung Hero, Club of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Workforce Advocate of the Year, School Commitment to PE Award, Sports Achiever of the Year, Community Initiative Award and the Changing Lifestyle Award.

Today the Chronicle features the fourth of our eight looks at the award nominees with a focus on the Changing Lifestyle award.

Three candidates have been nominated:

Phil Brook

Phil is a volunteer at Oldham Age UK and did very little activity before joining and undertaking training on the YMCA level 5 chair-based exercise instructor course.

He then went on to deliver chair-based exercises for community groups Age UK Oldham as part of his training.

Phil was previously overweight and unfit, he has managed to transform his lifestyle- leading to a change in his career.

Reddy Lenge

Reddy originally went to school at 7am finishing at 6pm- then going on to work until 1am.

This then resulted in him gaining weight and suffering from depression and anxiety.

He became anti-social and started to avoid family members and shared how he was having suicidal thoughts.

After joining the gym, he has now lost weight by going to the gym twice a week and has started up his own business.

He inspires lots of people across Manchester and Blackburn.

Angela Whittaker

Angela didnt do any activity before. It's enabled her to control her anxiety, improve confidence and mental wellbeing.

From the ataxia hitting her, she went from a wheelchair to walking frame to a walking stick in 12 months- after being told she'd never walk again.

Angela won an award with the stroke association and she now goes and speaks to others to encourage them to make a change.

Her bright spirit shows through and her determination is applauded by other gym users.

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