A MAJOR finance company has thrown its weight behind our York Community Pride awards.

Norwich Union, which employs about 3,000 people in York, has agreed to sponsor the whole of our campaign to find the city's true community heroes.

The finance giant was also the first to sponsor an individual award - the Volunteer of the Year category.

Norwich Union's corporate social responsibility manager Andrew Morgan said he was "very excited" that the company was the overall sponsor for the campaign - which also includes sponsorship of the York Community Pride Person of the Year award.

He said: "We have not really seen anything else similar to this. We've seen it as something which is a relatively unique initiative - which is fantastic.

"We are very pleased to be doing it. It's part of our overall commitment that we put something back in the city.

"We encourage all our staff to get involved in community activities. If the initiative can motivate more people to get involved and take an active role - then that would be really good."

He said the company had been particularly keen to back the Volunteer of the Year category when the campaign was first launched in April.

"We want to get our staff involved in volunteering," he said.

So far, nominations in the volunteer category include tireless fundraiser Penny Hutchinson, of Older Citizens' Advocacy York (OCAY), and Brian Fawcett, of Rawcliffe, and James Gumley, of Foxwood, who are both pillars of their local communities.

Evening Press editor Kevin Booth said: "We are delighted to welcome Norwich Union on board.

"It's great to have one of the city's major employers backing the awards."

We are still looking for more sponsors for our campaign. So far Harrowell & Shaftoe solicitors, Sanderson Motorhouse, City of York Council, Nestl UK and Transpennine Express have joined Norwich Union in backing the awards.

For more information on sponsoring an award category, phone Nigel Briggs at the Evening Press, on 01904 653051, or email nigel.briggs@ycp.co.uk.

We are still hunting for York's true heroes - people and projects that have made a real difference to our community.

To nominate yours, fill in the entry form on this page, remembering to include the category for which you are entering, and giving reasons on no more than two sides of A4.

Our judges will select three finalists in each category, and winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on December 1.

Updated: 09:09 Thursday, June 24, 2004