READING did us proud at the annual celebration of its greatest unsung heroes.
The conference centre at the Select Car Leasing stadium was the venue for the annual Pride of Reading Awards, held on Friday, December 2.
There were 16 awards presented including charity of the year, community champion, child of courage, and cultural contribution.
A special recognition award was presented to members of the Reading Ukrainian Community Centre, which is part of the Association of Ukraine in Great Britain, for its work helping people leaving our European neighbour, and sending aid to those who have stayed behind despite Russia’s illegal invasion.
And host Chris Tarrant made a donation of £5,000 to Sue Ryder Duchess of Kent Hospice.
The event opened with a champagne reception, before guests were entertained by singers Danyl Johnson, Paul Rouse, Bethia, and Kitty Mazinzky.
Afterwards, event hosts Mel Bloor and Matt Allwright welcomed people and introduced the proceedings, which included a heartfelt tribute to one of the driving forces of the Pride of Reading awards, Hilary Scott. The former deputy editor of the Reading Evening Post helped launch the awards and bring Chris Tarrant on board as host.
Among those giving tributes were Sir John Madejski.
Chris said: “She was impossible not to like… she was extraordinary, and she believed so much in Reading. She was wonderful.”
It was announced that there would be a special award, in her honour, in next year’s Pride of Reading.
Guests then enjoyed a three-course meal prepared by Simon Share, the executive chef of Reading FC Conference and Events Centre. This was a plant-based menu to reduce the meal’s carbon emissions from 5.5kg per dish down to 0.3kg.
The starter was Cheese and Pickle: blowtorched halloumi, whipped cream, cheese, parmesan crisp, pickled cauliflower, capers and relish.
The main course was called Scented Garden and was a curry of sweet potato and cauliflower, pilau rice, coconut and coriander cream.
Dessert was entitled Festive Forest, and was a twist on a black forest gateaux, featuring a mixture of cherry and chocolate.
Afterwards, with coffee, people could enjoy the first batch of new Reading biscuits. As part of the 2022 awards and to mark the 200th anniversary of Huntley and Palmers, there was a quest to find a special recipe.
The winner was Veronica Lilley’s Crown Biscuit. It was shaped like a crown and featured a lemon shortbread based with a small chocolate crown in the middle. A recipe was printed in the programme for attendees to enjoy, and will be reproduced in our special Pride of Reading souvenir supplement on Wednesday, December 14.
Then came the awards. Interviews with each of the winners will appear in our supplement on December 14.
The winners were:
- Charity of the Year, sponsored by ROC Search: Chemogiftbags and founder Lynne Shipton
- School of the Year, sponsored by Qwerty: Theale Green
- Business in Action under 50 employees, sponsored by Boyes Turner: The Blagrave Arms
- Business in Action over 50, sponsored by Boyes Turner: Haslams
- Fundraiser of the Year, sponsored by Cream Design: Sam Clarke!
- Employee of Year, sponsored by Reading Buses: Reading Borough Council’s Valbona Demiri
- Cultural Contribution, sponsored by M&G Real Estate: Kalakunj Performing Arts Group
- Special recognition award: Reading Ukrainian Community Centre
- The Chris Tarrant Pride of Reading Award, sponsored by The Oracle: Lola-Bella Teague
- Child of Courage, sponsored by IQVIA: Holly Baxter
- Community Champion, sponsored by Reading Football Club: Sylvia Simmonds
- Volunteer/Volunteers of the Year, sponsored by AB Walker: Grassrootz led by Kelvin Husbands
- Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by Macbeth Insurance: Claire Anderton-Bell
- Community of the Year, sponsored by Hilton Reading: The Weller Centre
- The Inspiration Award, sponsored by McDonalds: Daniel Pringle
- Mental Health Champion, sponsored by Lynne Pyke: Smelly Wellies
- Local Hero, sponsored by Green Park: Joel Richards
Interval and finale entertainment came from Readikids, some of the young stars of Berzerk Productions and Starlet Dance School, campaigner Charlie Kristensen, and 80s pop legend Nick Heyward.
This piece will be updated as we receive pictures from the event. More details and photos will be in Wednesday’s print edition of Reading Today.
