Search is on to find Britain's best volunteers
Gabby Logan and Together Mutual Insurance search for Britain’s ‘Community Initiative of the Year’ and ‘Community Hero of the Year’ celebrating local volunteers with national prizes of £25,000 per category
Today, TV favourite Gabby Logan launches ‘Britain Has Spirit’, a new campaign searching for Britain’s best individual and group volunteers. Gabby is calling on the British public to nominate their local shining stars, who selflessly give up time volunteering for nothing in return.
Recent research of 2,000 Brits1 reveals that our sense of community is declining, with nearly half of those surveyed admitting they never volunteer in their local area and two thirds of respondents unsure whether Britain still has a sense of pride. Together Mutual Insurance saw these results as a wakeup call, to reinvigorate Britain’s community spirit and celebrate local British heroes.
Historically we have always come together and embraced national pride when it really matters; the Olympics and Paralympics, the Royal wedding, the Diamond Jubilee. However it seems that our enthusiasm for our community and neighbours is waning. One in five Britons say community spirit has worsened in the last five years and six in ten of those surveyed lament that Brits just don’t talk to each other anymore. With today’s launch of Britain Has Spirit, it is your chance to make headlines for the causes and people that matter in your area.
Gabby comments; “We all know how well Brits celebrate individual and team endeavours, as so often demonstrated in sport. Britain Has Spirit has launched to try and re-evoke a sense of community pride and honour those who are tirelessly giving their time and effort to make communities and neighbourhoods better, all year round.”
Chris McElligott, Director at Together Mutual Insurance adds, “The results of our survey were somewhat deflating. With Britons giving their local neighbourhood a mediocre five out of ten for community spirit – we knew it was time for change. On the back of our successful campaign ‘Better Together’ we are delighted to announce the launch of Britain Has Spirit. We will be really excited to congratulate all the worthy winners.”
Nominations can be made within 12 British regions in two categories; ‘Community Initiative of the Year’ and ‘Community Hero of the Year’. A judging panel will determine regional shortlists which will then be opened up to a public vote. All 12 regional individual champions will each enjoy a fun experience day prize and the groups, £1,000 towards a street party. Regional winners will then be collated and votes will again be cast by the public this time for the national winners. The national winning ‘Community Initiative of the Year’ and the national winning ‘Community Hero of the Year’ will each win £25,000 towards a local initiative or charity of their choice.
For more information and to nominate please visit www.britainhasspirit.com or through the web app. Alternatively, join the discussion on Together Mutual Twitter page @TogetherIns #BritainHasSpirit and the Together Mutual Facebook page www.facebook.com/TogetherMutualInsurance.
1Independent Survey by Together Mutual of 2,000 Britons 2015.
