My ‘Hampstead and Kilburn Community Champion Awards’ are an opportunity for me to recognise members of my constituency who have gone above and beyond for the community and to say thank you for all the work they’ve done.

At the end of last year, I once again asked my constituents to nominate someone they think deserves to be recognised for the work they have done in the community.

I received so many nominations for incredible people and organisations from across Hampstead and Kilburn.

It was inspiring to hear about all the amazing work so many of my constituents are doing, whether that is delivering food parcels to vulnerable neighbours or fundraising for local charities. It was so hard to narrow this down but I managed to pick 15 winners from across my constituency who I thought had made a real difference to the community.

Ham & High: Tulip Siddiq celebrated the work of her constituents in the communityTulip Siddiq celebrated the work of her constituents in the community (Image: office of Tulip Siddiq)

I recently announced the winners of my awards in a ceremony in Parliament attended by constituents and representatives from local schools, charities, residents’ associations, faith groups and other community groups.

We were also joined by Josette Bushell-Mingo (OBE) from the Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage who sang a rendition of Nina Simone's Feeling Good; Jacky Peacock and Joe Cole from Advice4Renters who spoke about all the important work they’re doing supporting people living in private rented accommodation and Shivani Lamba from Brightlobe, a medical technology business based in the constituency.

Community Champions from Camden included Shaheen Chowdhury, Joan Munro, Gillian Winn, Jackie Pepper, Shahram Vasiri-Tabar, Abul Choudhury, Lynda Stuart and Sue Measures.

The overall winners of the night were Barbara Want and Hazel Williams, who won an award for their outstanding contribution to the community. They were part of an amazing all-women minibus crew who drove to Poland to take emergency supplies for Ukrainian refugees and helped to bring displaced women and children to the UK. 

I want to congratulate all winners, finalists and nominees for all of their hard work over the last year. I have seen first-hand the difference they are making in our community and as their local MP I’m proud to champion all the amazing work they do.

Thank you to everyone who was able to join me to celebrate the work of our amazing community and the people and organisations that make my constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn special.

Tulip Siddiq is Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.