Recognising Community Heroes who make an amazing difference in their local communities

Platform and our partners have recently celebrated the unsung heroes who live in their communities and make a real difference to others, at our annual Community Heroes Awards.

Our vision is to build a better future by investing in affordable homes, services and communities which led us to launch our Community Heroes recognition Awards in 2022, to highlight the incredible work that our customers and partners do in their local communities.

Marion Duffy, Chief Operations Officer at Platform Housing Group said, “I was honoured to have been a judge on Platform’s Community Heroes Awards panel, along with our Board member Lou Zonato and Customer Engagement Panel member Shaolan Menzies. It was such a pleasure to read through all the amazing entries and extremely difficult to choose the winners.

“In what continues to be a challenging time for so many of us, it’s lovely to say thank you to our customers and organisations who go above and beyond to serve their local community.”

The Communities Together Award is given to someone who brings people together and makes everyone feel included. This important award was won by The Friends of Hurst Farm in Matlock, Derbyshire who work on behalf of the community to run events, support local people and ensure that Hurst Farm is a place where the community can thrive.

Anna Casey, Chair of The Friends of Hurst Farm Community Group said, “Without the Hurst Farm Community Hub, I don’t think there would be friendship as people wouldn’t socialise as much. It helps bring people together who may not have spoken before and helps tackle social isolation.

“Our community pantry was originally set up to tackle food waste and has provided such a crucial service with the ongoing cost of living crisis. We currently have 400 people signed up; there’s no eligibility criteria and local people pay £5 for roughly £40 - £50 worth of shopping.  Everything on our shelves in the larder would have ended up in landfill.

“Hurst Farm is such a wonderful place to live, we have such wonderful characters. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved so far and it’s just going to get bigger, better and brighter; we just love this community.”

Platform’s Community Heroes Awards were made possible by the generous sponsorship of the main event sponsors, Travis Perkins and the Communities Together Award sponsors Protective Wear Supplies (PWS).

Charlotte Denman-Johnson at Protective Wear Supplies (PWS) said, “PWS are honoured to support recognition of The Friends of Hurst Farm’s invaluable work in their community. The Communities Together Award reflects our company values of inclusivity, collaboration and empowerment, so this award was a natural fit for PWS.”

You can find out more about The Friends of Hurst Farm Community Group and watch them receive their award here.