SO PROUD OF PRIDE!

WELCOME ON BOARD... Chronicle Editor David Whaley (centre) with ABA members (from the left) Gunvant Kumpavat, Kashif Ashraf, Mohammed Rahiem (chairman), Shahid Sidhu, Bharat Sisodia, Akthar Zahid , Tariq Amin (president), Arshad Mahmood and Shafaat Choudhry .

TONIGHT the Oldham Chronicle is extremely proud to announce the launch of the 2011 Pride in Oldham Awards.

And with this being the tenth anniversary of the borough’s most prestigious community awards, we are planning to make them extra special.

Since their inception in 2002, as a direct reaction to the negative publicity Oldham received from the riots the previous year, the awards have gone from strength to strength. Over 200 worthy individuals and groups have taken the nerve-jingling walk up the red carpet to receive their framed-front pages as Pride finalists and 68 of those have walked away with Pride in Oldham awards.

These are the peoples’ awards — nominations come from you, our readers, in a host of categories for those people who go the extra mile for the borough and those who live in it.

And with this year being the tenth awards, we are looking for a clutch of worthy winners who will be gracing the stage at the Queen Elizabeth II Hall on Friday, December 9.

For the first time the event is going to be staged as an evening gala dinner rather than a luncheon and preparations are already taking place to make sure this is a glittering night to remember.

The Pride in Oldham Awards — which this year sport a new logo — would not be possible were it not for the financial support of the business sector of the borough which gives generously to make sure the event is fitting of its status.

So we say a special thank-you to our returning sponsors who were with us in 2010 and, in some cases, have been backing Pride in Oldham from the very start:

MOLNLYCKE HEALTHCARE

OLDHAM COUNCIL

GUINNESS NORTHERN COUNTIES

UNIVERSITY CAMPUS OLDHAM

OLDHAM COLLEGE

BALFOUR BEATTY

ROTARY CLUB OLDHAM METRO

To this list this year we add a generous £3,000 donation from Asian Business Association.

This organisation is planning to announce donations into a whole host of areas within the borough in the coming months as a real legacy for their work.

Kashif Ashraf, for the fund, said: “Pride in Oldham has done a brilliant job in highlighting the many good deeds that Oldham people do in the borough and we are delighted to be able to offer our support for the tenth birthday event.”

Chronicle Editor David Whaley said: “The ABA fund organisers have recognised the role that these awards play across the borough and we are delighted to have them on board.

“We are, as ever, indebted to the sponsors for their support and we are actively seeking other organisations to give their backing so that we can make this event extra special.

Now it is down to readers to nominate would-be winners for a Pride in Oldham award.

Nominees are being sought in ten categories: Professional, Voluntary, Group, Education Worker, Health Worker, Business, Sports Administrator, Sports Achiever, Special Achievement and Schools.

An eleventh award — the Readers’ Choice — is decided once all nominations have been received.

The closing date for nomination is Friday, October 14 after which an independent panel of judges from our sponsors will face the difficult task of choosing finalists and winners who will be invited with their guests to the December 9 gala dinner.

Get voting now!