The Denton and Reddish Citizens Awards were set up last year to celebrate those in the local community who go above and beyond. Anyone across Denton and Reddish can be nominated, and I have met some truly inspirational people as a result. To nominate anyone for a Citizens Award fill out the online form here!
Scroll down to read the stories of some of our incredible local heroes.
Ava-Grace Bancroft and Stephen Powers
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n July I was joined by by Councillors George Newton and Claire Reid to present Citizens Awards to Ava-Grace and her grandad Stephen.
Ava-Grace is a very brave, selfless amazing little girl, who was diagnosed with Leukaemia about three years ago at the age of 6. She has had some very bad times and struggles with her health, but amazingly got to ring the bell in 2020 to signify the end of her chemotherapy, although she still has a long journey ahead to ring the bell to signify the ‘all clear’ from cancer.
Throughout her battle Ava-Grace has made it her goal to raise money with the help of her granddad in particular to give back to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Ward 84, who have helped and supported her through her difficult times.
She has set up a page (with her granddad) where people very kindly donate the most amazing prizes after hearing of Ava’s story and of her wish to give back and help as many children on Ward 84 to make it as pleasant as she possibly can while they are there.
Ava-Grace has also supplied lots of pyjamas for the children on ward (which really isn’t thought of as a necessity, but when the children are as ill as they are, lots of extra pairs are needed).
She has bought amazing amounts of crafts and stationery and her last donation to Ward 84 was 2x Nintendo Switches with games for the teenagers on ward as she didn’t want anyone overlooked, no matter how young or old.
Stephen Power is Ava’s granddad. He would do anything to help Ava-Grace and her brother Nate, and spends a great deal of time organising the donations, sorting out the Ava-Grace’s wish group page, updating people on the new items, organising auctions and bonus ball raffles to generate as much money as he can for his granddaughter’s ideas to fulfil them as best he possibly can.
As well as keeping the page going he has helped them to completely renovate Ava’s family home to make it safe for her to live in when they moved last year and also looks after Ava’s younger brother Nate (with Ava and Nate’s Nan) when Ava has to spend time in the hospital.
At the awards ceremony, Ava-Grace presented £200 to Cllr George Newton’s charity bike ride to Blackpool in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
An amazing family and a well deserved award to both Ava-Grace and Stephen. Well done!
Ryan Bardsley
In July I awarded a Citizen’s Award to PE teacher Ryan Bardsley, from St John Fisher RC Primary School and ASD Resource Base. Ryan was nominated by a number of people for keeping children engaged in sports and PE throughout the various lockdowns over the last year. Ryan also went one step further and organised a masked singer competition to keep the children entertained during the holidays. He had no idea that he was going to be presented with the award, so was pretty stunned when Denton South Cllr Claire Reid and I turned up! Well done Ryan, you’re changing lives and are a true inspiration!
Virtual Awards Ceremony
Throughout 2020 I’ve been awarding my Citizen’s Award certificates to people who’ve done something special…But we were so overwhelmed by the nominations made, and lockdown made it difficult to personally award the certificates – in December of last year I held a virtual awards ceremony.
51 certificates were awarded to some brilliant people from across Tameside and Stockport who have gone over and above to help make the Denton and Reddish constituency a better place.
Thank you to all the recipients for all you do… and please keep nominations coming in. It’s nice to celebrate the many good deeds taking place – they’re too often overlooked or taken for granted – so let’s say thank you! 
Re:dish volunteers
Last Christmas I dropped into Re:dish. The food bank – which is part of the Stockport Food Bank – has been absolutely vital in supporting local people who need their assistance.2020 has sadly saw an increase in demand for this service. As with St Mary’s, the volunteers, who give their time freely to help others, are absolute superstars. A BIG thank you to every one of them from me.
I also popped across to the Re:dish Charity Shop at Houldsworth Square too. Again, a massive thank you to the volunteers there who keep this side of the charity ticking over. The shop is looking fantastically festive. Even Santa and his Elf are volunteering, by waving at passers-by in the shop window!
St Mary's Food Bank Volunteers
In December of last year, while over at the St Mary’s Food Bank in Haughton Green, I presented the volunteers with one of my Citizen’s Awards.The award was just a small gesture to say thank you and recognise them for their dedication, commitment and for making a big difference over the course of such a tough year.
Thank you! 
Tommy Parker
Well done to Denton’s Tommy Parker for helping to organise and coordinate a huge Christmas toy and food appeal last year!I joined Councillors Denise Ward and Vincent Ricci to present the award. Tommy took over a classroom at DENTON YOUTH, and to see all the donations was just mind blowing!
Thanks to everybody who’s taken part – and a BIG thank you to Tommy – a modern-day Santa!
Murtza Hussain
In October 2020 I was delighted to present an award to Denton shopkeeper Murtza Hussain and his family.Murtza works incredibly long hours, and went out of his way during the spring lockdown to get hold of essential stock people were struggling to obtain even at supermarkets. He also delivered to those in need and raised money to provide food packs for the most vulnerable.
The family have also received two similar awards from the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester for their COVID efforts. Well done Murtza!
Sue Doyle and Pat Quinn
In October 2020 there was a celebration over at Dane Bank, to present two long-standing members of the Friends of the Horses Field Committee with a Citizen’s Award.Sue and Pat retired as Secretary and Minute Secretary in 2020 – the Committee was formed in the early 1990s to ‘save’ Horses Field from development proposals. I’ve worked with this group as Councillor and then as MP for 25 years now, and it was great that Councillor Brenda Warrington could also join the presentation too.
THANK YOU both for your service!
Paula Arkinstall
In September 2020 I popped over to Denton Community College to present Technology teacher, Paula, with her Citizen’s Award. I was joined by Denton West Councillor George Jones.During lockdown, Paula almost single-handedly made over 500 visors for NHS staff and key workers around Manchester, personally delivering most of them to help in the fight against COVID-19.
She has used her evenings and weekends to make the visors, whilst teaching the children of key workers and parenting her three daughters during the week. She has gone over and beyond, working tirelessly for others.
There is no doubt that her heroic contributions have saved lives; Paula is a superhero. Well done!
Louise Parks
Last September I met up with the Dukinfield Councillors John Taylor, Jackie Lane and Brian Wild, along with local campaigner Naila Sharif to present my latest Citizen’s Award to Louise Parkes.Louise is a personal trainer who has had many mental health struggles throughout her life. Not until she was 39 did she receive the correct diagnosis for her condition.
Louise’s struggles have not stopped her from supporting others, including domestic violence victims, mental health sufferers and other families who have children with additional needs. During lockdown she set up an online support network called Strength and Soul, providing people with the motivation to keep a positive, healthy mind.
Louise puts on free, half-an-hour Zoom exercise classes for friends and families in the local community three times a week, sharing inspirational messages and low-fat recipes with her support network on WhatsApp. She has been a lifeline for so many who are struggling. Very well deserved. Proud of you Louise!
Connor McMillan
In August 2020 it was my great pleasure to present Connor McMillan with one of my Citizen’s Awards. I was joined by local Councillors Denise Ward and Allison Gwynne.Connor is a security guard at Crownpoint shopping park in Denton. On 7th July 2020 he was made aware of an altercation just outside the shopping park, in Wilton Street. He sent one of his security colleagues to attend, who then radioed Connor to report a stabbing.
Connor immediately ran with the first aid kit to attend to the victim and performed lifesaving first aid until the Tactical Aid Unit and paramedics arrived at the scene.
I was made aware of Connor’s bravery by his family, who are rightly proud of him. Well done Connor. The award is very well deserved.
Christine Ingram
It was my great pleasure to turn up to Denton West End Community Library with Cllr Brenda Warrington to be able to present Christine Ingham with her Citizen’s Award.Christine is a volunteer at the library and does brilliant work with all the other volunteers here in keeping the facility open and running… but this Award was made for the additional work she did over lockdown.
At the height of the pandemic Christine was based in the library on her own to ensure social distancing, making activity packs for the children of the area.
The packs were left outside the library with surplus books for residents to collect. These packs have proved immensely popular with children, whilst providing much needed support to parents who are struggling to entertain their children – some people even driving from Ashton to pick up a pack.
Making the packs was very time consuming and Christine spent a huge amount of time producing them. Well done Christine. The Award is certainly well deserved!
Vicky Lambert
In August of last year I headed over to Audenshaw to say ‘Thank You’ to Vicky Lambert who was nominated for her dedication during the first Coronavirus lockdown in March.Vicky is a dental nurse but was moved over to Coronavirus care at Manchester Royal Infirmary. In addition, she has been supporting family members and others in the community who have had COVID-19 or who were sheltering or self isolating, ensuring they had shopping and other necessities.
Vicky feels she didn’t do anything out of the ordinary and was just being a good neighbour and friend… but that’s exactly why she so deserves to be recognised with a Citizen’s Award. Well done and thank you Vicky
Nadia Ali
Nominated by the public, it was my great pleasure to present Nadia Ali from Heaton Norris with my Denton and Reddish Citizen’s Award in July 2020.The reason for the award: “Nadia has served the Heaton Norris community with unrelenting energy and enthusiasm for some time. During the current climate, she has rallied to ensure that all local children receive activity packs and goodies, and that all families receive free bread and copies of the Heatons Post. She is tirelessly committed to the welfare of the Heaton Norris community. Nadia is doing all she can to balance support and connectivity at a time when everyone is so isolated.”
She’s done so much to help local residents in Reddish and Heaton Norris throughout the pandemic. Very well deserved!
Enya Krool
It was lovely to head down to Haughton Green to join up with the Denton South Councillors and say a BIG thank you to 6-year-old Enya Krool who raised over £600 for the St Mary’s Foodbank during lockdown.What a fantastic achievement by Enya. Well done. We are all proud of your efforts and you should be too!
Dane Bank Characters
In June 2020 I caught up (in a socially-distanced manner) with the brilliant Dane Bank Characters at the Dane Bank pub.They have been raising money towards the Denton West End Community Library (and also raising spirits along the way). To date they have raised more than £1,200 which is brilliant. Well done.
Denton West Councillors Brenda Warrington and Mike Smith joined me in presenting a ‘Citizen’s Award’ to the group. Thank you to all those who nominated them… and as a child of the 1970s, I had the privilege of finally meeting Hong Kong Phooey!
Michelle Stokes
Last year I joined up with Reddish South Councillors Yvonne Guariento and Janet Mobbs to present Reddish resident, Michelle, with my latest Citizen’s Award.Michelle has gone above and beyond during this pandemic to ensure that the elderly, vulnerable and shielding in Reddish received emergency food packs. She has also delivered food packs to food banks and local care homes.
Now she’s fundraising for children with cancer, and trekked with colleagues on a 14.5mile hike up Kinder Scout. Well done Michelle!
William Mahaffey
Last year I went up to Tameside Hospital (Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust) to present – obviously at a safe distance – my Audenshaw constituent William Mahaffey with a citizen’s award for his work coordinating and donating bottled water supplies for our #NHS staff. Well done William, you’re a real inspiration!