Many thanks to everyone who nominated volunteers either for our previous Shining Stars, or for our new Impact Awards. Across the four nations, and in so many different ways, our volunteers have made a huge difference to people living with MS. And, over the months, the Panel have been truly inspired by reading the nominations.
At their most recent meeting, once they had made the general awards from the most recent group of nominations, the Panel had the very difficult job of picking three finalists for each of our six categories:
Supporting and empowering: For going the extra mile to support people with MS, helping them to live well and face the future with more confidence
Fundraising: For inspiring efforts to raise money for us, helping us get closer to our vision of a world free from the effects of MS
Sharing skills and expertise: For outstanding contributions to the development and delivery of our work. And making sure people living with the effects of MS are at the heart of everything we do
Informing: For showing extraordinary dedication to raising awareness about MS and giving people affected by MS the information they need to live well
Connecting: For building networks, creating partnerships, and bringing people together to help make sure no one has to face MS alone
Influencing: For speaking up for the MS community, and bringing about change at local or national level
To do this, the Panel reviewed the nominations received since the start of 2020 (to ensure we included impact delivered during the pandemic) and identified three of the most outstanding contributions in each of the categories. These finalists have now been invited to take part in our first online award ceremony on Wednesday 5 October at 7pm, where the overall winner in each category will be announced.
The event will be hosted by our celebrity Ambassador, DJ Scott Mills, and streamed live on our MS Society YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/mssociety) and on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MSSociety). Please join us on the night as we celebrate the achievements of our finalists, and of all the wonderful volunteers who have had such an important impact on the MS community.