Girl Guide leader and church youth worker is latest Community Hero award winner

Girl Guide leader and church youth worker Cheryl Turner has been named as the latest winner of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Community Heroes award.

The 29-year-old, from Bowbridge Road, Newark, spends countless hours a week volunteering.

This involves being a Guide leader at 2nd Balderton Guides, she is also a Sunday School teacher at St Leonard's Church on Lincoln Road, as well as church social secretary and general church youth worker.

She also links her Guides group into volunteering for where she works at the Canal and River Trust.

Cheryl has been selected as the latest community hero by county council chairman, councillor Mrs Sue Saddington.

The awards celebrate and recognise the efforts of unsung community heroes who do outstanding work in their local area.

Mrs Saddington had to choose from around 20 nominees and was impressed by the efforts that Cheryl puts in to support young people in her community.

Cheryl said: “I love what I do as it helps to make a difference to young people and I love watching them grow and develop as people through the years.

“We always try to keep the Guide sessions interesting and varied and we are rewarded with large attendances.

"We look to update activities every year and always ask young people what they want to learn to keep it relevant.

"Our leader-in-charge Sue Wilkinson has been with our unit for 40 years and has been a big part of what inspires me to work with young people.”

Cheryl started as a Brownie at the age of eight with 3rd Newark Brownies, and went through to the 2nd Balderton Guides, and at the age of 18 became a leader, which she has been for 11 years.

As well as trips, activities include cooking, crafts and making useful things, key skills to help them with their future, team building activities and all other kinds of varied fun things. The group meets weekly on a Tuesday night at St Giles' Church Hall, in Main Road, Balderton.

Her Guides also help tidy, plant bulbs and paint Trent-side in Newark and at the Newark Sensory Garden and Nether Lock for the Canal and River Trust.

As a youth worker and social secretary at St Leonard's, she organises family fun days, fundraising events and other activities for children and families.

She started promoting the church activities on Facebook last year, where she created the church's own social page.

Mrs Saddington said: “What I like about this volunteer is that Cheryl’s commitment helps young people to learn how to socialise and improve the environment.

“It also encourages young people to become involved with something other than IPads. I am delighted to be awarding Cheryl a Community Hero award in recognition of her hard work.”

Cheryl’s mum Jacqueline, from Beacon Heights, Newark, who nominated her daughter for the award, said: “When I heard Cheryl had won the award, I was so excited and had the biggest smile on my face, I felt so pleased for her."

The county council is still looking for community heroes. Some ideas for nominees are those who help vulnerable people with shopping, or providing a lift to a medical appointment, supporting young people in their community, or leading a local community project which has made a difference to people’s lives.

Every two months, the chairman will select one person who they believe deserves the award.

The nominations criteria is as follows:

• Nominees must live in the county

• Must not be a member of a local council

• Nominees must work or volunteer within the county

• Nominations should not be party political

• Nominees and those nominating would feature in awards’ publicity