Inspiring heroes honoured at Kingston community awards

It was an inspiring evening honouring the incredible people who give up their time to support others and help make the borough a fairer, safer, greener, and more resilient place.

Organised by the council in partnership with Kingston Voluntary Action and Volunteering Kingston, the awards recognised people across seven categories – including Unsung Hero, Working in Partnership, Young Volunteer, Community Team, Volunteer Impact, and Community Fundraiser.

More than 250 people attended the event, which came at the end of Communities Month. Throughout the month, we have been sharing the uplifting stories of volunteers and community groups across our neighbourhoods who make a real difference to the lives of others.

I want to thank all those who give their time to volunteer and support others, you are hat makes our borough a very special place.

You can read some of these inspirational stories at kingston.gov.uk/CommunitiesMonth2025.

During the month, we celebrated Volunteers’ Week with the launch of the borough’s new volunteering strategy.

The selfless and often unrecognised support of the borough’s carers was highlighted during Carers’ Week.

In Refugee Week, the City of Sanctuary Flag was raised over the Guildhall before an event in which we heard from people with lived experience of life as a refugee.

Last week, I was also lucky enough to be at the unveiling of a blue plaque for one of the borough’s community heroes – gardener and broadcaster C.H. Middleton.

Mr Middleton was a much-loved figure who lived in Tolworth from 1929 until he died in 1945.

His first broadcast on the BBC was on 9 May 1931, and he went on to become the voice of the highly successful Dig for Victory Campaign in the Second World War.

Organised by the Community Brain and English Heritage, and unveiled by Alan Titchmarsh, the blue plaque is a tribute to Mr Middleton’s community focus, bringing people together in a vital wartime food-growing effort.

He embodies the community spirit that we have been celebrating throughout June.

As a council, we are committed to working alongside partners and communities to ensure those who need to are able to access the services and the support they require, when they need it.

This is only possible with the help of committed volunteers.

It was wonderful to celebrate our incredible local volunteers and community organisations at the awards and let them know they are recognised and respected for all they contribute to the health, wellbeing, and happiness of people across our neighbourhoods.

You can read more about the winners on the council website: kingston.gov.uk.