Last week saw the celebration of a red letter day for Oxfordshire’s charities and community groups. 


The Oxfordshire Charity and Volunteer Awards, organised by Oxfordshire charity OCVA, were held to showcase the work of some of Oxfordshire’sthe county's best charities and volunteers.


The event had a real buzz and was attended by more than 350 people in Oxford’s Town Hall.
Sixty-four volunteers received special certificates to thank them for all their tireless contribution to our local charities. 


The volunteer awards were presented by Tony Stratton, High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.


Among the recipients was James Grote, director of the Ark T Centre, in Cowley, who has dedicated himself to setting up and running the centre for 17 years as a volunteer.


A surprise special award was presented to BBC Radio presenters Malcolm Boyden to thank him for all his support of Oxfordshire’s voluntary sector with his Radio Oxford show. 


The charity awards were presented to the winning charities by Tim Stevenson, the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire.


Nine charities found out they were the winners of nine very prestigious awards, from best new group, which went to the Leys Community Market, to Charity of the Year, which was won by Yellow Submarine. 
Kanika Lang, who organises the event for OCVA , said, ‘It was incredibly exciting to see the quality of voluntary work that occurs in our county.


“We are all indebted to these charities and volunteers for making Oxfordshire a better place to live.
“We hope that winning an award tonight will give these charities a real boost and also show funders how much their work is appreciated."

In addition to the 64 Activate Learning Individual Volunteer Award Winners, the winning charities were:

  • Jennings/Monument Community Trust Best New group: Leys Community Market
  • Oxfordshire LEP Innovation Award: The Community Action Group Project
  • Oxford Bus Company Environmental Award: Bicester Green
  • Oxford Brookes Management of Volunteers Award: Restore
  • Bicester Vision Working Together Award: SpecialEffect
  • ByBox Best Community Project: Cowley Road Works
  • Hunts Best Team of Volunteers Award: Oxford Food Bank
  • Clark Howes Lifetime Achievement Award: Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre
  • Blake Morgan Charity of the Year: Yellow Submarine.