By Vicky McLeod
The winner of the 2014 BoB Award was announced on Friday evening at Mood Beach in Costa D’en Blanes. All of the nominees were invited with their guests to attend a reception on the Champagne Terrace at sunset. They were treated to a delicious Flying Finger Food Buffet created for them by Head Chef Les Regan.
The owner of Mood Beach, Margaret Whittaker OBE, gave an opening speech and Jason Moore, editor of the Majorca Daily Bulletin echoed his appreciation of the amazing contributions by the nominees to the community in Majorca.
The nominees were
-
Teresa Llull Marti, President of Respiralia, who strives to improve the lives and health of people living with Cystic Fibrosis.
-
Gillian Brion, British Vice Consul, who works tirelessly for the British people in the Balearics.
-
Maria Jose Loly of the Micky Heart Pillow Project who leads a group of “crafty” people creating comforting “heart” pillows for cancer sufferers
-
Wendy and Simon Peters, Help for Heroes, who have raised thousands and thousands of euros for charity
-
Charles Winckleman with Foundation Handisport, who have enabled countless people with disabilities to enjoy sports in Mallorca
-
Cameron Springthorpe, on behalf of the Majorca Street Angels, a team of dedicated volunteers helping keep young people safe on the streets of Magalluf
-
Izzy Newman, who gives her time selflessly for charities across the island, and represents many of the entertainers on the island who do this
-
Anne Verinder and her Pay it forward Project, who inspired many others to donate their time to Pay Forward kindnesses
-
Kay Halley, owner of the Universal Bookshop who has formed a valuable community hub in Portals for children and adults alike
-
Brad Roberston from Association Ondine, who is passionately creating awareness of our marine environments in the Balearics.
-
Jeff Harter from the Cancer Support Group, who works constantly to help the group in particular in his role as head chef for the Table for 100 fundraiser
-
Elaine Gill and Nicky Morgan, Cat and Kitten Rescue Mallorca who continue to care for and rehome animals in Mallorca.
-
Angela Guerrero, Calvia Councillor, who goes above and beyond her job description and continuously tries to give back to her local community.
Vicki McLeod gave the presentation speech before announcing the winner: “Thank you for coming to our gathering to announce the winner of this year’s Best of British Award. We asked for nominations for people who personified “The Best of British” traits. But what are the Best of British traits? An ability to queue in a perfectly straight line? Incessantly needing to say “Please” and “Thank you”? An obsession with breakfast? No, in reality we knew that we were looking for personality traits that can only be found in the most special examples of the human race. And stood here this evening we have some of the finest in Mallorca.
“We wanted to highlight individuals and groups who do something amazing for their community or their family. Although we call it the Best of British Award we called for nominees from any country who speak any language.
Every one of you was nominated because of your contributions to our local community whether by forming a charity or organisation or by making your own individual contributions. You share a commitment to helping others, courage in overcoming adversity, a generosity of spirit, neighbourly responsibility, selflessness and the ability to put others first. Your collective determination to help, your energy and enthusiasm, initiative and imagination are impressive.
You all certainly get things done, that’s for sure! Thank you for making a difference, thank you for caring, thank you, and don’t stop.”
Teresa Llull Marti and Foundation Respiralia received just under 500 votes and was announced the winner. The runners up were Cat and Kitten Rescue with 343 votes and the Mallorca Street Angels with 136 votes. A trophy and a cash prize were given to the happy winner. To keep up to date with events at Mood Beach email info@moodbeach.com.