From Longton and Proud CIC
What began as a desire to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic has grown into a volunteer-led organisation that continues to make a real difference to people across Longton every day.
When families were struggling, neighbours helped neighbours. Volunteers came together to provide support, share resources and ensure vulnerable residents did not feel alone. While many of those emergency efforts ended when the pandemic passed, the spirit behind them remained.
That spirit became From Longton and Proud CIC. Officially incorporated in March 2024, the organisation continues to operate without formal funding and is powered entirely by volunteers, donations and community support. Much of its activity is centred around Longton Exchange Shopping Centre.
At the heart of the organisation is The Little Longton Book Exchange, a welcoming community space where books are shared, friendships are formed and conversations begin.
For many visitors it is not simply a place to collect a book; it is somewhere they feel welcome, valued and connected.
The CIC also supports families through The Little Longton Uniform Exchange, which provides free school uniform to local families, provides Winter Warmers support during colder months, hosts weekly coffee mornings, community jigsaw tables and volunteer training opportunities and helps create spaces where people can come together, build confidence and tackle loneliness.
The organisation has also supported wider community projects including funding activities for Staffordshire Lobby Week and providing outdoor games used during Longton Exchange’s Fun Fridays, helping ensure local families can access free activities and experiences.
From Longton and Proud CIC has been nominated in the Community Group of the Year category of the Your Heroes Awards by Roz Ryan.
She said: “Some organisations are created through funding programmes, business plans and formal strategies. From Longton and Proud CIC was created through kindness. Every project is delivered because local people care deeply about their town and the people who live within it.
“What makes From Longton and Proud CIC truly remarkable is not the size of its budget or the scale of its organisation. It is the fact that it exists because people care.
“Every book donated, every volunteer hour given and every conversation shared reflects a community looking after its own. In a world where many people feel disconnected, From Longton and Proud CIC continues to prove that small acts of kindness can have a lasting impact.
“Through compassion, dedication and an unwavering belief in community, it has helped create a stronger, more connected and more hopeful Longton. That is why From Longton and Proud CIC deserves recognition as a true community hero.”
Trent Rowing Club
Trent Rowing Club has been part of the fabric of Burton-upon-Trent for more than 160 years but in the last six month, its small volunteer committee has gone above and beyond to secure the future of one of the town’s oldest sporting institutions.
With no previous large-scale fundraising experience, no major commercial backing and no paid staff, this passionate group of 10 volunteers achieved something extraordinary through sheer determination, creativity and community spirit.
For a volunteer-run club with around 30 active members, the scale of the achievement has been remarkable.
Their Ducks in a Row crowdfunding campaign captured the imagination of the entire town. What began as a hopeful fundraising idea to raise enough funding for a new boat shed, became one of Burton’s feel-good community events of the year, with more than 200 people attending the club’s first-ever duck race and 280 yellow and blue ducks racing down the River Trent. Throughout the event, the club’s junior rowers proudly demonstrated their skills on the water, showcasing the opportunities the club creates for young people in Burton.
The committee also brought together 21 local businesses to sponsor giant corporate ducks (firms such as Cosy Direct, Smith Partnership, Timms Solicitors and others) alongside smaller ducks sponsored by local individuals and families
The campaign attracted support from the Mayor of East Staffordshire, MP Jacob Collier and Olympic bronze medallist and heavyweight boxer Frazer Clarke and featured on ITV Central News.
The committee unlocked £15,000 Sport England match funding and raised £32,130 in four months towards the new boat shed and future development of the club.
Despite the success of the campaign rising construction costs mean further fundraising is still needed while the committee continues balancing club operations, coaching recruitment and supporting members at local competitions.
Many race attendees had never visited Trent Rowing Club before, introducing new audiences to the sport and helping break down perceptions that rowing is inaccessible or exclusive.
The campaign contributed to a 100% year-on-year increase in website visits and page views, while the dedicated duck race page became one of the club’s most visited and highly engaged areas of the website. Learn to Row enquiries increased by 350% following the campaign.
Alongside fundraising, the committee has continued supporting a thriving junior programme which is now producing regional and national success. Trent juniors have represented the East Midlands at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta, achieved medal success at national competitions and helped establish Trent as one of the UK’s top junior rowing clubs. For many young people, the club provides far more than sporting opportunity. It offers confidence, discipline, teamwork and a supportive community environment.
Trent Rowing Club has been nominated in the Community Group of the Year category of the Your Heroes Awards by Rachel Hayward.
She said: “The committee’s ultimate aim is to make rowing more accessible and affordable for people of all ages and backgrounds, creating opportunities for juniors, beginners and families while preserving an important part of Burton’s sporting heritage for future generations.
“What Trent Rowing Club’s committee achieved was about far more than raising money. They brought an entire community together to protect and grow one of Burton’s oldest sporting institutions, proving exactly what passionate volunteers can achieve when local people rally behind a shared cause.”
James Atkin, Chairman of Trent Rowing Club, said: “This has probably been the biggest year we have had for fundraising. We’re a small, volunteer-led club with busy lives outside of rowing so making the time is quite difficult. Getting recognition from outside the group is a nice feeling.”