THE countdown to the Examiner’s community awards starts today. Each edition over the next 10 days will feature one of the 10 categories and profile each of the three people or organisations shortlisted in each one. The countdown to the awards night on Monday, October 8, begins with ANDREW HIRST’S look at the SERVICES TO THE COMMUNITY nominees
Andrew Hirst
NPOWER is part of the German-based RWE Group and supplies electricity and gas to more than 6m British business and domestic customers.
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Npower is very active in the community, supporting charities, healthier lifestyles, sports and regional wildlife trust projects.
It encourages employee volunteering. More than 1,000 people took part in community projects in 2005.
The company has an extensive education programme for young children to learn about the safety of electricity in homes.
Npower supports a charity each year. In 2006 it was the Macmillan cancer charity. More than £1m was raised and the hope is to raise another £1m for the same charity this year.
Npower also focuses its energy on supporting disability in sports through its partnership with the Federation of Disability Sports Organisation. More than 100,000 people have taken part in its Active Sports programme.
The countdown to the awards night on Monday, October 8, begins with Services To The Community.
Coming tomorrow ... Sports Personality Of The Year
Tragedy inspired national campaign
PERSONAL tragedy has inspired Stacey Rodgers to do all she can to make sure other lives are not devastated in the same way.
Her 10-year-old son, Dominic, died after a fumes from a faulty boiler and blocked flue at a neighbouring house seeped into his bedroom at their Fartown home in 2004.
Stacey, 30, has campaigned tirelessly ever since to warn people about the deadly threat of carbon monoxide.
And his death wasn’t in vain according to Stacey who has set up the Dominic Rodgers Trust to raise awareness about the killer gas.
“I really believe what happened to Dominic has saved a lot of lives,’’ she said. “I know he would have been proud of what I have done to raise awareness.
“When the coroner rang me to say it was carbon monoxide poisoning, I didn’t even know what it was.
“I did a lot of research and I thought this has got to stop.
“I don’t want another family to go through what we’ve been through.”
Over the last three years Stacey has worked closely with British Gas, Corgi, CO Gas Safety, the Health and Safety Executive and Kirklees Council to promote safety messages about getting gas appliances properly checked.
She has also teamed up with Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman to get Parliament to consider providing carbon monoxide alarms for free.
Dominic’s picture has also been displayed on buses and bin wagons across Huddersfield as part of a major advertising campaign to warn people of the dangers.
And she has picked up a national award from Corgi for her dedication to the cause.
Stacey said: “It’s something that people don’t realise until it happens to them.
“My main message is get your gas appliances checked by a Corgi registered installer and get an audible alarm because it is the only way you will know if there is CO gas present.”
Top Scouting achievement
HE has spent four decades teaching youngsters to tie knots and read maps.
And he earned himself a top Scouting award along the way.
Now retired scout leader Geoffrey Ellis has been shortlisted for his outstanding services to the community spanning 46 years.
The 64-year-old joined the 43rd Huddersfield Crosland Moor Scout Group as a boy aged 12.
By the age of 18 he was assistant scoutmaster before becoming group scout leader from 1975 until 1995.
Health problems forced him to become assistant group leader in 1995 until his retirement in August this year.
During the last six years, the father-of-two has dedicated his time to applying for funding for a new £450,000 Scout building at Moorside Avenue, Crosland Moor.
He also received the Silver Wolf Award earlier this year – the highest Scouting award given, for his exceptional long service.
Retired warehouse manager Geoff, who lives in Longwood with his wife Pauline, said: “You get a lot of satisfaction from helping young people.
“It is the interaction between youngsters and adults that is great.
“You are giving them life skills for the future because we teach them the age-old things like tying knots.
“I was surprised to be nominated for the award, but it is always nice to be recognised.”
Providing a new outlook on life
MICHELLE Bartholomew has given youngsters who would never have thought of going to university a new outlook on life.
Michelle, of Lockwood, has become a great role model for other young people in the African-Caribbean community by showing the importance of education.
She is now a lecturer at Huddersfield University and has set up special summer schools which take African-Caribbean and shared heritage youngsters aged 13 to 17 behind university doors.
The hope is to inspire them to make an informed choice to go on to further education.
The former All Saints High pupil did a degree in health and sport which led to a masters in health education. Michelle is now a lecturer in the School of Human And Health Sciences and is also doing a Phd in Diasporic Identity, looking at how the sense of identity of people born in the Caribbean who emigrated to the UK in the 1950s and 60s has changed.
In 2003 she hit on the idea of a summer school and sought funding from the European Social Fund which has led to summer schools from 2004 to 2008.
Michelle said: “A lot of research shows that African-Caribbean people and those with a shared heritage are under-represented in higher education and one reason cited is the lack of role models in their communities.
“There are also a lot of myths surrounding university life and the summer school aims to give them a genuine insight.’’
The school is run within the Department of Clinical Health and includes lessons in subjects as diverse as science to psychology and the students have workshops and sample lessons in a range of settings from laboratories to lecture theatres.
Michelle said: “We can only take 40 people and this summer 120 applied so unfortunately we had to turn many down. Everything has a health focus and a sports element which helps with team-building and confidence. Some who have been to the summer school have been inspired to go on to university.’’
Michelle has also built up a team of 10 mentors who help her with the summer school and they include university students, former students and people from the African-Caribbean community.
“If I can do something that can help other people’s lives then I will do it,’’ she said.
She won the Education Award at this year’s Yorkshire Women Of Achievement Awards for the summer school which goes under the title Making A Difference – Because You Are Worth It.
