THERE'S only one month to go before York finds out who the winners of our Community Pride campaign are.

Earlier this year, the Evening Press and City of York Council launched the second year of our campaign to unearth the city's true community heroes.

We wanted to find the people of whom our city should be proud - those locals whose unstinting efforts to improve the lives of those around them really has made a difference.

We asked our readers to send us nominations of those people they wanted to see recognised in our awards, and we were flooded with entries.

The whole spectrum of life in our city was reflected in the nominations you sent, from hard-working charity volunteers to brave children battling disease, from spirited young people getting involved in their community to environmental groups transforming their local green spaces.

Our finalists include street cleaning supremo Paul Willey, asbestos victims campaigner Paul Cooper, and Ellen Willey, founder of the York Hospital special care baby unit support group.

Shops in York are also represented, with readers writing in to tell us about businesses they thought deserved to carry off our Service With A Smile Award for outstanding customer care. Schools, the health service, the public sector - they all had a place in our awards as well.

Back in August, our judges drew up a shortlist of finalists - three in each category - and the winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony on October 20.

We are very grateful to all the local businesses which have signed up to sponsor our awards.

Yorktest Laboratories Ltd - the York-based company which specialises in allergy and food testing kits - is the most recent supporter of our campaign.

The company has agreed to sponsor our Health Service Hero category, aimed at discovering a special person whose dedication to the NHS is second to none.

Chief executive John Graham said he was "delighted" to be associated with the awards which honour the community's true unsung heroes.

Last year, Yorktest was awarded a Queen's Award for Innovation. It has also been named technology company of the year, as well as joining the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, and a DTI Smart Achievers award.


Updated: 10:58 Friday, September 23, 2005