Pride awards’ double boost

EXTRA HELP . . . Tesco Extra store manager Dominic Carey with Chronicle editor Jim Williams inside the emerging new Huddersfield Road store.

TWO new backers have come on board to ensure the Chronicle’s Pride in Oldham Awards continue as one of the top honours in the borough.

Now in their eighth year, the awards have highlighted hundreds of Oldhamers who go the extra mile for the borough and its people.

And this year’s awards — the search for nominations starts here — have received a financial boost with backing from Tesco Extra and The Oldham College.

Tesco Extra are due to open their massive new store on Huddersfield Road next week and store manager Dominic Carey said: " We are absolutely delighted to be involved in the Pride in Oldham Awards for the first time this year. Tesco is all about being an integral part of the local community offering our local customers choice, value and quality.

“The Pride in Oldham Awards, which are going from strength to strength, reflect the true spirit, the pride and the day-to-day reality, of what is going on in the area.

“It is very humbling to be given an opportunity to pay tribute to all those people who quietly get on with it year by year and play such a vital role in making Oldham a vibrant place to live and to work.”

And Kath Thomas, principal at the Oldham College, said: “The Oldham College is proud to be supporting the eighth Pride in Oldham Awards. It is a fabulous opportunity to recognise the hard work and dedication of the many people of Oldham who work tirelessly to make this town a better place to live and work.”

These two organisations join an elite group who will be backing the 2009 awards — JW Lees brewery, Guinness Northern Counties Housing Association, Oldham Council, Molnlycke Healthcare and University Campus Oldham.

Jim Williams, Editor of the Oldham Chronicle, said: “Without the financial backing that these organisations provide we would not be able to make the Pride awards luncheon such a stunning spectacle.

“Now it is up to the people of Oldham to nominate those they think worthy of a Pride in Oldham award — I never cease to be amazed how many unsung heroes are nominated each year.”

A nomination form appears tonight and will regularly appear in the Oldham Evening Chronicle in the coming months.

Nominations are then checked and those featured in the Chronicle will all be put forward for awards in 11 categories — Professional, Voluntary, Health Worker, Education Worker, Business, Sports Administrator, Sports Achievement, Group Award, Schools and Colleges, Special Achievement and a special Readers’ Choice award.

An independent panel of judges representing the sponsors will then look at all the nominees and choose a shortlist of three in each category.

These will all be invited to the gala luncheon at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Thursday, December 3,where they will receive awards and the winners in each category a prized trophy.





Pride in Oldham

Awards 2009



NOMINATIONS



If nominating by email, tell us...



Person/ Group nominated

Contact number for them (if known)

Their job title/place of work/school

Your reason for nominating them

Your name and contact number



Send your email to editorial@oldham-chronicle.co.uk — mark the subject “Pride in Oldham”