Montrose's community champions celebrated at trust's inaugural awards
Volunteers, organisations and local champions who are working to transform the Montrose community were recognised recently at a special awards evening.
Montrose Community Trust (MCT) hosted its inaugural Awards Ceremony at the Royal Montrose Mercantile Golf Club to spotlight the work being undertaken across the town and district.
The trust’s team of 18 employees relies on around 110 volunteers to continue the provision of its life-changing social programmes, and four of these volunteers were recognised for their individual excellence - Anne Kenny, Ian Anderson, Sheila Bell and Archie Anderson.
Retiree Sheila has volunteered at the Trust since 2022, and is passionate about enhancing the lives of individuals with mild to moderate dementia and their family carers by volunteering at the trust’s Montrose Connections programme.
It was a particularly proud moment for 16-year-old Archie, who has volunteered with MCT’s football programmes since he was just 14. He has since amassed more than 300 volunteering hours and taken on an official role as a Community Coach. Local football fans may also recognise him as the stadium announcer at Montrose FC home games.
MCT further recognised the outstanding contributions of local organisations who have helped to strengthen the work of the Trust over the past year, including the Angus chapter of networking organisation BNI Nexus, Angus Council’s Vibrant Communities team and digital marketing agency Due North Creatives.
The final accolade went to Montrose Port Authority (MPA), which was awarded the Special Recognition Award for is significant support. This has included various financial contributions over a number of years, most recently the major donation of £200,000 towards MCT’s £2m Gable End project.
The ceremony also featured Montrose Community Council’s Citizen of the Year, which was awarded to Tommy Stewart, chairman of the Santa in Montrose Charity. All money raised by the charity’s Santa appearances goes to local causes such as Dorward House and Montrose Day Care Centre. Since 2020 the charity has also put up and maintained the town’s Christmas lights.