DDC Chairman, Cllr Gordan Cowan, together with REACH Award winners: Left to right: Hannah Hills (Baby Basics), Joshua Chapman, Lizzie Reynolds and Tony Rake
DDC hosted a prize giving ceremony on Saturday 20 July, in the Billiards Room at Kearsney Abbey, to reward some of our community’s local environmental heroes.
Sponsored by LitterLotto, a free app that rewards you for binning litter, the REACH Awards (Recognising Environmental and Community Heroes) recognises our district’s unsung heroes who work hard to improve the appearance of the Dover District, helping to maintain our environment and unite the local community.
Split into five different categories, the scheme acknowledges those individuals and groups who work tirelessly to make a difference, as well as local businesses who are putting the environment at the top of their agenda.
The awards were free to enter, and candidates could nominate themselves or be nominated by others across five categories. Many worthy entries were received for the panel of judges at DDC to review, and the ultimate winners in each category are:
- Community Impact Award – Baby Basics for Dover & Deal - Hannah Hills
- Green Business Award – She Sells Refills, by the Seashore - Amy Howie
- Green School Award – Dover Grammar School for Boys
- Litter Picker of the Year (over 18 category) – Tony Rake
- Litter Picker of the Year (under 18 category) – Joshua Chapman
When considering the winners for each category, the judges were looking for a clear passion and a consistent focus on making a difference.
Baby Basics is a volunteer-led project aiming to provide local, vulnerable families with essentials for them and their newborn babies. Hannah is a primary school teacher who works full time, as well as a mother and wife. She has been running Baby Basics Dover & Deal for the past eight years out of her garage space. She helps families with Moses basket starter packs that have everything a mum and baby could need from day one including clothes, nappies and toiletries. Recently Hannah has become the Southeast hub lead looking after eight centres for Baby Basics in the Southeast.
She Sells Refills, by the Seashore is a small refills business created by local resident Amy Howie. She provides refillable and eco-friendly products such as household cleaning, toiletries, spices, dried goods such as nuts and rice, as well as sustainably produced utensils like washing up brushes made of coconut husk. Amy runs refill stations at most local markets in the Dover area, helping make sure people can access environmentally friendly products and services without having to travel far. She offers a local delivery service which is normally her and her daughter walking to deliver your goods. She is a fixture of the local community and always welcomes people with open arms, is never judgemental and always willing to help.
Dover Grammar School for Boys - Lizzie Reynolds, a member of the admin team at the school, has sought grant funding to enable the school to install raised flower beds to help create a more natural and calming environment in our outside spaces. She has worked with staff and students to raise awareness of gardening and green issues and is actively involved in supporting the school's Y12 and Y13 gardening enrichment programme. Lizzie has designed these outdoor spaces herself and has organised the purchase of all the required materials and plants. She has also organised the planting of 100 new trees on the border of the school site to help improve the natural habitat. Lizzie is passionate about gardening and has really raised awareness of the natural world and its importance with students and staff.
Tony Rake – no matter what the weather is like, Tony is out in it all, picking up litter and debris in the village of Ash in a quiet and unassuming way. He does not sing from the rooftops or seek acknowledgement for what he does, and is a great example of someone helping out for the environment and local community. He has been described as a shining example of a neighbourhood superstar. He has also inspired a dedicated team to follow his example.
Joshua Chapman - Joshua wanted to buy himself a litter picker so he could clean up the walk to school. Since then, he has done litter picks around his village and even earned himself some money from villagers that saw his hard work. His school recognised his litter picking in an assembly and he got a thank you from the headteacher! Josh's class teacher then set up a litter pick including the whole reception class.
Presenting the awards, DDC Chairman, Cllr Gordon Cowan, said: “I’m delighted to present the REACH awards this year to recognise our environmental and community heroes. The entries were judged on inspiration, achievement, and environmental/community impact and we have worthy winners for each category. I would also like to recognise all our other local volunteers, community groups, schools and businesses for all the magnificent work that they do to help make our district a cleaner, greener and better place to live.”
David Landsberg, founder and CEO of LitterLotto, said: “We are pleased to be sponsoring Dover District Council’s REACH Awards to recognise those who help to make their district a cleaner and better place to live. Here at LitterLotto we believe in encouraging behaviour change by offering users the chance to win prizes for doing the right thing and putting litter in the bin.”
Notes to editors
This is the third year of DDC’s REACH Awards.
Individuals, schools, and groups are recognised for activities that help to make our district a clean and greener place to live such as organising litter picks, reducing the amount of paper and plastic that they use, recycling, upcycling, and reusing items such as furniture and clothes.
For local businesses, the judges were looking for any business within the district that has taken action to have a positive impact on the environment and the community they serve.
The community project looks to recognise and celebrate the work of a community or individual/group of local volunteers who are working hard to improve the district. This could be, for example, offering accessible services, hosting litter picks or building a community hub, making a difference to the lives of local people.
LitterLotto is a multi-award-winning free mobile app that incentivises people with monetary rewards and prizes to bin litter.
Posted on 22 July 2024