BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero 2011
As part of the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year event the BBC are once again be looking for some very special people who work in sport.
It's the 2011 BBC Sports Unsung Hero awards.
Do you know someone who helps others take part in sport within your community?
Someone who goes that extra mile to make a difference?
If so, why not nominate them for a BBC's Sports Unsung Hero award?
The awards have been run annually since 2003. They recognise special people who dedicate their lives to promoting sport in their community, taking no reward from it other than the pleasure of helping others to take part and enjoy their sport.
The search for the BBC's Sports Unsung Heroes takes place across the United Kingdom. It will see winners named in all 12 of our BBC English Regions plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each winner will go forward for final judging, when an overall winner is named at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year event in Salford on Thursday, 22 December live on BBC ONE.
The Unsung Hero Award is always my favourite moment of the night, when someone most deserving gets a chance to share the spotlight with the biggest names in sport.
What are we looking for?
The BBC want to know about someone who, on a voluntary basis, makes a real difference to sport within their area.
They'll give their time and talents to enable others to participate in sport. This may be in helping an individual, team or teams, or perhaps be the driving force behind a sports club. This sport can be at any level. However they must be someone who gains no financial reward for their time, and must be 16 years of age or over.
How are the awards run?
Following nominations from members of the public using the enclosed nomination form, judging panels decide each of the 15 winners. In each case they comprise figures from the sporting world, a former winner of the Sports Unsung Hero award and representatives from BBC Sport and locally based BBC staff.
All 15 regional BBC winners are then invited to this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year show where an overall winner will be announced.
In the nine years of the awards, many inspiring figures have won a Sports Unsung Hero Award. Some of the recent overall winners have included:
2006 - Val Hanover. She trains children with learning difficulties in North Shropshire for the Special Olympics.
2007 - Margaret Simons. She has run Bardwell Football Club in Oxfordshire since founding it in 1964.
2008 - Ben Geyser. He is the driving force behind Dorchester Boxing Club.
2009 - Doreen Adcock. The 73-year-old swimming instructor has taught more than 13,000 people to swim in Milton Keynes over the last 35 years.
2010 - Lance Haggith. He works tirelessly in grassroots sports in Bedfordshire, raising money from three sports kit shops.
So if you know someone like Val, Margaret, Ben, Doreen or Lance, whose unselfish and hard-working commitment to sport in their communities deserves recognition, please click on the document below to open up a nomination form and return to Janet Burns, Sport England North East, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS. Email; Janet.burns@sportengland.org or telephone 020 7273 1674.
Closing date for nominations is Friday 28th October 2011.
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