A teenager who devotes her spare time to raising money for charity was named the overall winner of Uxbridge College and the Uxbridge Gazette series' Local Hero Awards on Thursday (31 January).
Pippa Fisher, 18, a former pupil of Bishopshalt School in Hilingdon, was chosen as the Hero of Hillingdon in the competition to recognize the borough's unsung heroes. She was also the winner of the Fundraising Hero category in the sixth annual competition.
Pippa, now a student at the University of Wolverhampton, received her prize along with the other winners at the gala awards night at Uxbridge College's Hayes Community Campus.
The event, held in the campus theatre, was attended by around 120 guests including the finalists and their friends and family. Music was provided by Perry Parsons and the Vyners Swing Band, and the buffet by Catering and Hospitality students in Lifestyles restaurant.
Pippa was chosen from the 27 finalists to win the £500 prize, and also scooped £250 as the winner of her category. Runners-up in each category received £50 each, and Highly Commended certificates were also presented.
The competition was run through the pages of the Uxbridge Gazette and Leader series, and readers were invited to nominate friends, family and colleagues in the categories of Fundraising Hero, Community Hero, Citizen of Courage, Carer Hero, and Young Hero.
The winners were chosen by a judging panel made up of the Mayor of Hillingdon Councillor Catherine Dann, Principal of Uxbridge College Laraine Smith, and Senior Editor-in-Chief of the Uxbridge Gazette and Leader series.
Ms Smith said: "As always it has been a great pleasure to host the gala awards evening for the Local Heroes at the Hayes Community Campus, and an enormous privilege to meet our winners; their stories are humbling, inspiring and uplifting.
"Uxbridge College is first and foremost about people and about community, and that is exactly what the Local Heroes event is all about too."
Adrian Seal said: "The Local Heroes Awards are without doubt one of the highlights of the year for the Uxbridge Gazette Series - the awards are now firmly established as a major event in the borough.
"The awards are all about focussing on the unsung heroes in our community who otherwise would not receive the recognition they so richly deserve for some truly remarkable feats and achievements across the borough of Hillingdon."
Full list of winners, runners up and highly commended:
Fundraising Hero:
Winner - Pippa Fisher
Runners-up - Marge Matthews and Jean Timms, Pauline Moulstone, and Barbara Wright
Community Hero:
Winner - Muriel Goss
Runners-up - Pat House, Malcolm Ward and Mick Wilkins
Citizen of Courage:
Winner - Luke Turner
Runner-up - Maggie Ditchburn
Carer Hero:
Winner - Christine Brown
Runners-up - Gillian O'Flaherty and Barbara Upton
Young Hero:
Winner - Tom Fishenden
Runners-up - Alexandra and Sam Fidge, Payam Ghaffary
Highly Commended:
Fundraising Hero - Doreen Brading and Stephen Hickman
Community Hero - Mary Hughes, Ray North, Philip Pye-Beraet and Rowena Scott
Citizen of Courage - Nelly Ben-Or Clynes
Carer Hero - Shaun King
Young Hero - Liam Jones
* There will be full coverage of the event in the Uxbridge Gazette on Wednesday 6 February and pictures of the gala night are being posted on the Gazette's website icuxbridge.co.uk.