Ecclesiastical received more than 300 nominations from across the country. Each of the six winners will receive a prize of £2,000 for their church with one lucky winner taking home the £10,000 grand prize.
Roger was nominated for the competition not only for his tireless work for the church but his devotion to all aspects of the small village community. Throughout his 41 years in Kettlestone, Roger has served on numerous committees, been a charity trustee, a member of the Parish Council and served on the Parochial Church Council (PCC) at All Saints for 30 years. Through his work both in the village and at the church he has brought the two closer together and used his contacts to promote church events, fundraise for the church and share the history of the village.
Martyn Proffitt, church treasurer who nominated Roger, said:
“Over 41 years Roger has made a significant impact on our village community, his volunteering exploits are too long to list. He has served on the Village Hall committee, Charity Trustees, the Parish Council, the PCC and has used his woodworking skills to continually restore parts of our Church, but most importantly, people come to Roger for help because they know he is friendly and knowledgeable.”
A special thank you note written by the PCC and included with Roger’s nomination, read:
“Roger, huge thanks for many years of dedicated service to our community and church. Your help to others and positive influence on village life is much appreciated by all.”
Michael Angell, Church Operations Director and one of the judges, commented:
“Given the quality and number of nominations we received, the judging process was extremely difficult. Every single entry was worthy of recognition and deserving of a prize, but our six winners really stood out and have made an outstanding contribution to their local communities.
“I would like to congratulate the six winners and everybody who has been nominated. It was incredibly heart-warming to receive so many nominations for volunteers who have played such a crucial role in the running of their churches. They have led volunteering efforts with the wider community and we look forward to revealing the grand prize winner in November.”
The six winners were chosen by a panel of judges and will attend the winner’s lunch on 1 November, where the efforts of each nominee will be recognised and the winner of the £10,000 prize will be revealed.
Michael added: “The ‘Little Deeds, Big Difference’ competition really has revealed the thousands of little deeds carried out by church volunteers every day that make a big difference to so many, in all sorts of communities.
“Churches play an important role in local communities and church volunteers support a wide variety of activities and people every single day. This support is becoming increasingly important, particularly where other community resources are closing or have had to reduce the services on offer.
“We hope that the competition has helped raise the profile of the valuable work that church volunteers undertake in their communities and, that the prize money will go some way to helping support the many and varied activities they run.”