Blackpool Civic Trust Awards and Dinner 2016
Friday 28th April 2017
A wonderful evening at the Washington Suite in the Imperial Hotel, Blackpool!
On Friday 28th April 2017, Blackpool Civic Trust held its Annual Awards and Dinner in the Washington Suite of the Imperial Hotel. In front of over 160 guests, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Blackpool, Blackpool Civic Trust gave out awards to schools, community groups and local businesses who had contributed to supporting Blackpool in 2016.
Chair of Blackpool Civic Trust, Joan Humble, commented:?The evening was a very enjoyable way to celebrate individual and group achievement in Blackpool. I am pleased that the Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor Kath Rowson and Ms Joan Goldin could join us, together with both Blackpool MPs, Gordon Marsden and Paul Maynard. The 2016 Awards especially highlight the good work of community groups and also businesses in Blackpool which are supporting our local economy. I am pleased that this year?s ceremony took place at the Imperial Hotel which is itself celebrating its 150th anniversary. We all enjoyed a very successful event.?
The winners in each category are:-
Junior School Environmental Shield: Hawes Side Academy
Senior School Environmental Shield: Highfurlong School
Blackpool Council Conservation Award: Jubb and Jubb Ltd for their detailed survey work on the Winter Gardens.
Community Award: The Friends of the Illuminations
Best Open Spaces: 1 Jubilee Gardens (Gynn)
Best Open Spaces: 2 Aspire Academy, Memorial Garden
Best Refurbishment: The Grand Theatre
Transforming Blackpool: Harry Ramsden at Blackpool Tower
Special Award: 1 Glasdon?s Works Canteen
Special Award: 2 Carers Centre
Sponsors for the event:
Blackpool Council
Cassidy & Ashton Architects of Preston & Chester
The Imperial Hotel
Burbage Holiday Group
Hosts for the evening: Andy Mitchell of Radio Wave, The Mayor of Blackpool, Kath Rowson and the Chairman of Blackpool Civic Trust, Joan Humble.
Joan presents Andy with flowers
Apologies and Special Mentions
Apologies were received from our Patrons Jimmy Armfield and Amanda Thompson, and President, Elaine Smith and Vice President Martin Gunson.
Thanks were give to Carl Carrington, Blackpool?s Built Heritage Manager, and his colleague, Jan Cresswell for the support they have given throughout the year.
Our very good friend and member of the Trust, the News Editor at Radio Wave, Mr Andy Mitchell once again agreed to be MC for the evening.
Amanda Thompson was represented by the Pleasure Beach Director of Finance Mr Nigel Kilgallon.
The Mayor of Blackpool, Kath Rowson, presented the awards.
The Awards
The Awards were announced by Andy Mitchell and presented by the Mayor, Kath Rowson to:
The Junior Schools Environmental Shield which this year goes to Hawes Side Academy
Andy Mitchell described their achievement.? It?s been a busy year for Hawes Side Academy which has now moved into new premises. ?In January 2016 Hawes Side Academy became an expert centre for the Global Learning Programme and created a network of 23 local schools, working on issues of global concern, including sustainability.
The school is also involved in the Local Wildlife Trust and in June 2016, 20 children from Year 6 undertook a 3 day residential course at Castle Head Field Study Centre in Cumbria.These children explored and discovered the contrasting environments within Castlefield, learning how to work as a team on specific project activities. They then worked with the Wildlife Trust on the dunes in St Annes to dig out a sand slack, creating new habitats for other species and helping to conserve the environment.
The final part of this project was to share their knowledge. They presented their work in front of an audience of 180 children and they were nationally recognised with the presentation of the John Muir Award. All children in years 3-5 are now involved in this project; a total of 270.
The school?s Green Council also leads on other initiatives such as Switch Off Fortnight where children undertook an audit of energy use across the school, and their work will continue into 2017 with a new project funded by Urban Organic Community Gardens to transform the school grounds.
The Senior Schools Environmental Shield to Highfurlong School
Andy Mitchell described their achievement. Many of the pupils at Highfurlong School spend a great deal of time indoors due to the challenges they face with their health and physical disabilities and when Highfurlong School moved into their new buildings in 2015, the outside area was completely empty. ?
There was nowhere for children and young people to play, or take part in outdoor learning. ?The school was determined to change this and began to raise funds to develop the outside area.The Big Lottery funded a giant poly tunnel which will be used to develop the schools Enterprise Projects. The pupils will grow plants in planters, tubs and hanging baskets and then sell them as part of the Potty Pots Enterprise Business. The children will also grow salad in the Poly tunnel to be used in their food technology lessons.Another project popular with the pupils is the Bug Hotel.? Watching the creepy crawlies helps students investigate nature and wildlife and watch and learn about the life cycles of insects and the role they play in looking after the environment.
The last part of the school?s environmental work involves the outdoor area. Funding for this development was provided by the Vera Wolstencroft Charity and the Wooden Spoon.
This marvelous addition includes a wheelchair roundabout, wheelchair swing, wheelchair activity trail and other attractions for a range of physical abilities. The ground has been covered in soft play turf and means that all children are able to come out of their chairs. It is brightly coloured and loads of fun and the children, understandably all love it!
Sponsored by Blackpool Council is The BLACKPOOL COUNCIL CONSERVATION AWARD given for excellence in conservation or high quality building restoration work.
The winner is, Jubb and Jubb Ltd
Survey work isn?t exactly the most glamorous side of Conservation, but it is a vital part of understanding and caring for historic buildings.
The archive of the Tower Company, held in Empress Buildings, is huge repository of information; programmes objects, business records, advertising and architectural drawings.? What the Council didn?t have however was an accurate set of drawings of the entire complex.?If there was a dark hole full of spiders ? or worse ? they spent time in it over the year working to meticulously record and assess the condition of the building.?But they didn?t do it alone. Working their magic with state of the art digital survey equipment were Bury Associates and assisting with the arcane mysteries of engineering stuff was John Avent. ?
The finished product is astounding, over a terabyte of digital information, hundreds of data sheets and thousands of photographs.? We now know more about the building and its condition than ever before, and that information has saved us time and money when looking at new projects.This project demonstrates what can be done when you can assemble the right team, with the right skills and a challenge of gigantic proportions.? It isn?t glamourous, but we?re glad they do it!
Lynda Jubb and Richard Clews of Jubb and Jubb and their team collected the award.
The Civic Trust’s COMMUNITY AWARD for any kind of community or voluntary group and it recognises groups or individuals making a difference in their community.?
The 2016 winner is, The Friends of the Illuminations
The Friends of the Illuminations were formed in 2010 with a mission to raise funds to help keep the lights shining. ?The group was welcomed with open arms by the Illuminations team, who saw the opportunity to open its doors to the community and create a greater sense of ownership by the public.
The Friends are a collection of individuals, some with businesses who all saw the importance of the attraction to local business and the tourism and cultural offer of the town.To do this, they?ve enlisted showbiz stars and celebrities; held a regular Banquet, Ball and switch off parties. One of their most successful money raisers has been the ?Buy a Lamp? campaign, where people could buy a lamp with their name on that would then be used in the display.? To date the Friends have raised an amazing sum of over ?100,000 for the display.This is a fabulous group of people who?ve given so much of their own time to this fantastic cause.? The financial and moral support they offer the Illuminations department is tremendous and we remain forever in their debt.?Shirley Hunt and members of the Friend?s collected the Award.
The OPEN SPACES AWARD.? This award is aimed at recognising achievements in creating attractive public spaces either landscaped or hardscaped.? The choice this year was so difficult that we have decided to give awards to two very different projects.
Joint Open Spaces Award 2016 is to the Jubilee Gardens
Originally constructed in 1914 as part of the exclusive new promenade and then redesigned in 1928, Jubilee Gardens, is situated in a very prominent position on Blackpool?s North Shore Promenade close to Gynn Square.
The Friends of Jubilee Gardens (Gynn) was formed in May 2016, when local community members came together to volunteer their time on this neglected, tired and forgotten gem of a garden. The volunteers meet twice a week to work on weeding the gardens, clearing the paths and steps, painting benches, planting flower beds, pruning, propagating, fundraising and keeping the gardens tidy and litter free.
Working in partnership with local and national groups, they have created an attractive area for the community and our visitors. The revitalised gardens have seen a decrease in anti-social behavior, drinking and drug abuse while increasing respect, community ownership and pride from its users.Their most recent projects have been the reinstatement of the once broken waterfall, enhancing the Blue Light Memorial area, securing funding for plants from Tesco?s Bags of Help Scheme and the ongoing excavation of the original 1928 Rockery.
The Friends of Jubilee Gardens collected their award.
Joint Open Spaces Award 2016 is the Memorial Garden at Aspire Academy.
A meeting of the Trustees of the Blackpool Grammar School Old Boys Memorial Fund in September 2015 took the decision to close the fund within two years because of the age of the Trustees, and the opinion that the Trust had achieved its objectives.
After sharing out their remaining funds amongst some very good causes, there was still sufficient money to support one final legacy.The memory of Superintendent Gerry Richardson had hitherto been just a small brass plate. The Trustees decided to fund the creation of a memorial garden to Gerry, at the front of the Aspire Academy. This garden was to incorporate the previous foundation stones of Collegiate Grammar School for Girls and the coat of arms from the former Collegiate High School along with the plaque already commemorating Gerry. ??This memorial garden will be for future use by Aspire students for events of celebration, or remembrance, and a focal assembly point for the whole school.On 23rd August 2016 an impressive dedication ceremony took place on the 45th anniversary of Gerry?s death, attended by two Chief Constables, many civic dignitaries and an invited guest list of 100.This is now the site to commemorate and celebrate three former schools, all of which have left an important legacy for Blackpool as well as a place to reflect on the bravery of one Old Boy of the school.
The School Shields, Open Space and Community Awards were chosen by members of our Executive Committee, but the next award was chosen by a panel of judges.
The judges are:
Alistair Baines is a local architect and has been involved with the awards judging for some years now.
Clare Johnson is from Blackpool Council?s Planning Department.
Josh Connolly is from Blackpool Sixth Form College and Tim Shane is from Blackpool & the Fylde College.
The buildings of today are the future heritage of our children & grandchildren and so we think it?s essential to have young people on our panel.
Canon Andrew Sage, Blackpool Civic Trust?s Planning Officer.
The Award for Best Refurbishment goes to: The Grand Theatre.
Then the team set about raising funds to develop these buildings with the aim of improving access for audience members in wheelchairs and those with restricted movement and creating a better working environment for staff at the Theatre.
As part of this, a series of new dressing rooms and meeting spaces were created in the under utilised upper floors of the shops along with a brand new multi-purpose room that can be used for rehearsals, meetings and events.
As part of the project, the original dress circle bar has been restored ?to its original size and configuration, allowing many more of us to reach the bar at intervals for a welcome drink!
Needless to say, since this complex work was finished the Grand Theatre has had a very positive feedback from its audiences, funders, visitors, staff and Trustees.
Representatives of the Grand Theatre, Cassidy and Ashton Architects, F Parkinson as contractor and Mr Shaun Ward of Blackpool Council who was project manager for this scheme collected the Award.
Last year we received no nominations for other building categories. As you will have seen, we have celebrated many achievements in the community. The work on the Grand Theatre also benefited the community. We believe there are other interesting and exciting developments in Blackpool that also merit their own awards.
The Blackpool Civic Trust Committee, in consultation with our judging panel has decided to make three more awards. The first one is:
Award for Transforming Blackpool winner is Harry Ramsden at Blackpool Tower
Combine Victorian grandeur with the fun and flamboyance of Blackpool to create the next generation of a well-loved traditional restaurant. That was the challenge for Manchester based design consultancy, CDS Wilman.
The brief was to create a new flagship location for a 21st century Harry Ramsden restaurant within the iconic Grade 1 listed Blackpool Tower.The design team was initially tasked with providing a scheme to upgrade the old Tower Lounge space to house a 250 seat restaurant and a 60-seat quick-service takeaway outlet.The overall concept aimed to capture the spirit and energy that makes Blackpool a truly unique destination; establishing this feeling as an intrinsic part of the restaurant experience was central to the design process.It was crucial that the design responded to the various challenges presented by the architecture and heritage of the world famous Tower.This included entrances from the street on three different sides, a mix of low ceilings and double height spaces ? and , most importantly, ensuring that the design worked with the running of all the other public attractions within the Tower.The scheme continued the fantastic quality of the restoration to the promenade frontage, restoring and replicating the beautiful cloud panels above the promenade doors and incorporating other art deco features within a scheme that is both contemporary and reflects changes to the Tower in the 1930?s.
Following the theme of supporting the community, and in this next example, improving the work place for staff, we give a Special Award to the project to create a new staff canteen at Glasdon’s.
Glasdon UK Ltd is a long established local company with around 200 employees at its Preston New Road site. Clearly, being a previous award winner has got them thinking about new ways to win awards!We all know that keeping staff happy is an important part of any business, and with this in mind, the bosses at Glasdon turned their attention to the works canteen. The previous canteen was dated, small and not very well used.The Company took the decision to make a significant investment in refurbishing and extending the canteen into a neighbouring office.
This was intended to provide more space and better facilities in which employees could relax and visitors could be entertained.? This has improved staff morale, provided better working conditions and created a hub for members of staff and visitors to relax and socialize during the working day.
The architects worked within the constraints of the existing space yet created a unique design transforming the interior space beyond recognition. The combination of feature curved timber ceilings and coffered areas allowed interest whilst still affording plenty of height within the space.
Floor finishes were chosen to harmonize with the ceiling appearance and flexible, bright and attractive furniture selected to modernize the area to bring colour and vibrancy into the space.Representatives from Glasdons, Cassidy and Ashton architects, and Fylde Joinery and Building Services collected the Award.
The Special Award is given to the Carers Centre at Beaverbrooks House
Blackpool Carers Centre was launched in 2005 at a Blackpool Tower fundraising event, attended by The Princess Royal. Its purpose is ?A Better Life for Carers?.The service has grown and developed in line with local need. In Blackpool it now supports over 4,000 family carers from the age of 5 years up.In 2014 they began searching for a new building as they had outgrown their existing premises. In 2015 the Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust purchased the beautiful Blenheim House building specifically to house the Blackpool Carers Centre.The building had sadly been wrecked by metal thieves and the next challenge facing the team was the prospect of renovation. On April 8th 2016, a phone call from Children in Need confirmed that their project had been selected from applications from across the country to be part of the DIY SOS Big Build special. They were overjoyed. The generosity of over 300 volunteers and donors was overwhelming.Laurence Llewelyn Bowen?s inspirational design flair and Laurence Mitchell?s garden ensured that the newly named, Beaverbrooks House would be a flagship Carer?s Centre – something that Blackpool can be proud of.A year on from the Big Build, the carers, staff and volunteers are settling in and making themselves comfortable. Not too comfortable though because they?re preparing for their next project; the renovation of the annex to provide fantastic respite accommodation!
Joan Humble thanked Andy for reading out the citations, Carl Carrington for his ongoing support and the Worshipful the Mayor of Blackpool for giving out the awards. ?Presentations were given to Andy, Carl and Jan to say thank you properly. There were also flowers for the Mayor.?
Thanks to members of our committee whose skill is to be seen all around us in the form of the decorations, printed menus, and raffle prizes.
Andy Mitcell, Joan Humble, Kath Rowson, Carl Carrington:
Joan Humble, Jan Cresswell:
Simon Blackburn, David Owen, Andy Mitchell:
For the full set of photos please see our Flickr Album, click here to go to Flickr
Blackpool Civic Trust Awards and Dinner 2017
Friday 27th April 2018
A wonderful evening at VIVA Blackpool!
On Friday 27th April 2018, Blackpool Civic Trust held its Annual Awards and Dinner at VIVA. In front of over 200 guests, including the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress of Blackpool, Blackpool Civic Trust gave out awards to a school, community groups and local businesses who had contributed to supporting and improving Blackpool in 2017.
Chair of Blackpool Civic Trust, Joan Humble, commented:
‘The evening was a very enjoyable way to celebrate individual and group achievement in Blackpool. I am pleased that the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress, Councillor Gary Coleman and Councillor Debbie Coleman, could join us, together with Blackpool MP, Gordon Marsden. The 2017 Awards highlight the good work of a variety of community groups and also businesses in Blackpool which are supporting our local economy’.
The winners in each category are:-
Junior School Environmental Shield: Park Community Academy
Senior School Environmental Shield: Park Community Academy
Blackpool Council Conservation Award:
Blackpool Council Property Services Department and Paul Humble of Blackpool Civic Trust, and F Parkinson Ltd
Community Award: The Friends of Stanley Park
Best Open Spaces: The Secret Garden, Watson Road Park
Best Night Time Economy: The Stanley Arms, Brew Room
Best New Housing Development: Blackpool Housing Company,
for the conversion of properties at 114-120 Albert Road
Best Refurbishment: Thames Primary Academy
Judges special award: Donna?s Dream House
Highly Commended: The Little Black Pug Bar
Highly Commended: VIVA Diner
Best Shop Front: Highly Commended: Lingerie Lounge
Transforming Blackpool: World Fireworks Championship Blackpool
Special Award: The Street Angels
Thanks to those who have sponsored? the awards this evening.
Blackpool Borough Council
Cassidy & Ashton Architects of Preston & Chester
We have also been supported by several local businesses.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Burbage Holiday Group
Number One Hotels Group
Parks Art Deco Caf?
Sainsbury Blackpool
Sandcastle Waterpark
St Stephens on the Cliffs
The Imperial Hotel
The Model Village
The Winter Gardens
The Award Winners Photo Gallery
Junior School Environmental Shield: Park Community Academy
Senior School Environmental Shield: Park Community Academy
Each class from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 5 has an ECO Council representative and ECO warriors, with their own special uniform!? The ECO Council meets each term to discuss environmental issues and upcoming events and these pupils help set the agenda for the year.
As well as working locally, the school also provides opportunities for pupils to learn outdoors at education centres beyond Blackpool such as; Myerscough, Bendrigg and Tower Wood.The proudest achievement this year has been receiving The Foundation Certificate for the International School Award. To attain this, pupils have been sharing learning about festivals, culture and art. They are aiming to sustain these close links with other countries to enhance Park Community?s global citizenship links within the curriculum and to achieve their Intermediate Award
Blackpool Council Conservation Award:
Blackpool Council Property Services Department and F Parkinson Ltd
and Paul Humble of Blackpool Civic Trust
F.Parkinson Ltd: the main concern was how a new external lift shaft could be made to blend in with the original Art Deco Council Office building with its carved stone frieze depicting the advancements in road, rail and air transport, particularly in such a prominent position.
After much negotiation on materials and design, plans were passed by the Planning Committee in April 2017, but there were still reservations?.
Earlier this year as the lift neared completion, certain nay-sayers were forced to eat hats as the wraps came off a structure whose attention to detail, workmanship and close matching of materials made it look like it had always been there.
This second Conservation Award is for a volunteer within the Civic Trust who has supported the Civic Trust and Blackpool Council?s Conservation Officer on a number of projects.? Our second Conservation Award goes to Paul Humble! From coordinating the training of Civic Trust volunteers to work at height on scaffolds, to hundreds of high quality photographs to support the proposed creation of a conservation area for North Shore. Paul has brought a calm professionalism to everything he does.
Community Award: The Friends of Stanley Park
The Friends? group was begun in 2002 and in 2005 a former joiner?s workshop in the park was turned into a Visitor Centre as a base for the group, a facility which has been predominantly run by its volunteers since then. The Friends host a number of regular fundraising activities, including events at Easter, Christmas and Halloween.?
The money raised is spent on the maintenance and improvement of Stanley Park.? Recent examples of this include works to the Italian Fountain, Floral Clock and repairing and re-painting the Bandstand.
But it?s not all about fundraising. Members are often up early each day to pick up litter and work hard to organise a fantastic programme of free concerts hosted at the bandstand across the summer.
In 2017 there was a huge party in the park to celebrate its 90th year. Lord Derby came and re-enacted his grandfather?s original opening of the gates and to top it all off, the Friends were delighted to win the Fields in Trust, Field Day 2017 for this celebration and the Fields in Trust, Best Park in the UK 2017.
This last award was more important than anything else because it was won by national popular vote which proved just how many people love Stanley Park.
Best Open Spaces: The Secret Garden, Watson Road Park
Approximately 7 years ago The Friends of Watson Road Park received a surprise phone call from Alan Hume of Groundwork. He asked if the Friends would be willing to consider taking over the running of an area of the Watson Road Park at the rear of the bowling green. This part of the park had previously been managed by the Alzheimer?s Society.
A quick phone call was made to the Council?s Parks Department and the Friends received permission to proceed.
Unfortunately, when the Friends took it over, the garden was in a very poor state. Carpets covered the ground to suppress weeds and rubbish had begun to build up. The Friends ordered skips and organized members and other volunteers to clear the ground and replant the garden, inviting children from Thames School to help.
It was originally proposed to designate this part of Watson Road Park as a Memorial or Remembrance Garden and many people do use it for quiet contemplation. But it was finally decided to call it ?The Secret Garden? and even some local residents don?t always realise that such a beautiful garden is just round the corner!
Best Night Time Economy: The Stanley Arms, Brew Room.
The Stanley Arms was built in 1880 and is probably most famous for being the place where Blackpool Football Club was formed in 1887.? An attractive gothic revival building in sandstone and brick, it?s also one of the few Blackpool pubs that hasn?t changed too much externally and the carved and painted arms of the Stanley Earls of Derby are proudly displayed over the door.
But this wasn?t always the case.? When Robert and Gaynor Wynne bought the building in June 2017 it had a damaged roof, no utility connections and was semi derelict.
The initial work included the repair or replacement of damaged windows, the roof and external tiles. The building was completely rewired and ground floor refurbished with the aim to keep all the original features.
More significantly, redundant space on the south end of the property was used to build Blackpool?s first microbrewery, providing jobs and creating the first new brewery in Blackpool for many years.
The pub is unique in having no beer from any major brewery on draught. All the 25 draught lines are either brewed on site or from smaller regional breweries. We look forward to the new beer and future developments at this fantastic venue! Robert and Gaynor Wynne:
The awards above were chosen by Blackpool Civic Trust, the following awards are chosen by a panel of judges who are:
Lawrence McBurney is an architect with Cassidy and Ashton
Clare Johnson is from Blackpool Council?s Planning Department.
Canon Andrew Sage is Blackpool Civic Trust’s Planning Officer.
Best New Housing Development: Blackpool Housing Company,
for the conversion of properties at 114-120 Albert Road
This project is the largest and most challenging project completed by the My Blackpool Home to date. The scheme involved converting two hotels into twenty, one and two bedroom apartments.? Works were completed in December 2017 by Lancashire based construction firm, Eric Wright Group.
The Malibu was a thirty two bedroom hotel with a long and difficult history associated with anti-social behavior. The Astoria, also with more than thirty bedrooms, had been closed following a fire which caused extensive damage in January 2015.
There was a focus on the restoration of the original buildings with the retention and repair of traditional decorative features. New roofs with traditional style leaded dormer windows were installed and the external upgrades to restore and replace period features make a substantial contribution to the street scene.
More importantly the properties set a new standard of quality in this location, not only in the building work but in the inclusion of energy saving and insulation innovations, helping tenants save money on bills and household costs.
Best Refurbishment: Thames Primary Academy
In 2013 the Governors took the decision to auction an oil painting that had been left to the school by Councillor Halstead in 1926. Following a nail biting auction they were astounded to receive ?240,000 for the painting. They then decided to ask the children to think about how the money could be spent to best effect.
The school council presented their ideas to the Headteacher and the suggested areas for improvement were the classrooms, the playground and, in particular, the toilets!
The school commissioned CreativSparc Architects to work with them to develop a master plan that would see the complete redesign and improvement of the original school buildings and playground (especially the toilets!). Work commenced in the summer of 2014 with Conlon?s being the chosen building contractor.
Over a three year period, Thames Primary Academy have created a stunning environment for the school children. The sense of space and light are evident to everyone entering the building and the classrooms are a pleasure to work in for both children and their teachers.
If only Councillor Halsted could have seen the transformation that his legacy has created!
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Thames Primary Academy!
Highly Commended: The Little Black Pug Bar
As some people may know, Little Black Pug Bar was formally a tax office and had never been a public house or indeed a building that anyone might go into voluntarily!
That?s all changed now with a stylish new bar that has restored a lot of original character to what had been series of drab offices.? The new owners removed all the of partitions and re-opened the generously proportioned rooms.?
A new bar had to be designed to complement the original size and design of the spaces and the new d?cor features clever contemporary twists on traditional themes and lots of attractive lighting.
A huge amount of hard work and dedication has been put in to this successful new business, creating new jobs in the town centre and transforming an attractive but empty building into a buzzing meeting place in the town centre.
Please welcome Robert Dick and representatives of the Little Black Pug.
Highly Commended: VIVA Diner
Set on Blackpool?s iconic Golden Mile, the VIVA Vegas Diner offers a trip back in time to the fabulous era of the 1950?s for a unique and high quality dining and entertainment experience.
Featuring classic car fitted booths and a retro inspired bar, with fantastic memorabilia, this restaurant, bar and grill truly captures the aesthetic of a 1950?s diner with a touch of Las Vegas thrown in.
Alongside a delicious menu full of all those tasty American classics, including the most amazing milkshakes, hotdogs and burgers, customers can also experience a service like no other. This is due to the incredible, all singing, all dancing routines performed by staff who break out into performances throughout the day!?
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome representatives of VIVA Diner.
Judges special award: Donna?s Dream House
Donna?s Dream House is a Charity created after the death of Len and Babs Curtis? daughter Donna Marie Curtis to provide holidays for seriously ill children and their families.
Towards the end of 2016 the Kentown Wizard Foundation made it possible for Donna?s Dream House to undertake major refurbishment, modernising the facilities on offer to the special families that stay there.
This generous donation enabled them to completely refurbish the interior of the family accommodation as well as repairing and improving the exterior of the buildings. Work also included the new ?Ken?s? free Ice-Cream Parlour and ?Jan?s? Sensory Room which was completed with the support of other special donors.
Whilst the money enabled Donna?s Dream House to purchase the materials and equipment, they wouldn?t have been able to undertake the work without the generous support of many individuals. From the Donnas Dream House Team to inmates from Kirkham Open Prison and many others who gave their time to complete the work.
Ladies and gentlemen, please, a huge round of applause for Donna?s Dreamhouse!
Best Shop Front: Highly Commended: Lingerie Lounge
The Lingerie Lounge opened in September 2015 on Queen Street but it became apparent very quickly that the shop needed a lot more space.
They viewed 174 Church Street in the summer of 2016 and saw its potential. They loved the building and its prominent location. However it needed a lot doing to it to bring it back up to scratch!
Having got access to the premises they worked hard over 4 weeks to complete renovations and open in time for the Christmas season. Local professionals were enlisted, in particular BWD Design and the entire interior was stripped out.
A crumbling office ceiling was removed and beneath this they found some beautiful original features. With more help from family and friends, the doors were opened on 1st December just in time for Christmas.
The fantastic displays in the large windows of the shop front and views to the stylish interior of the shop have added to the quality of the local street-scape and encouraged other new businesses to set up in the area.
Ladies and gentlemen please welcome representatives from the Lingerie Lounge.
Transforming Blackpool: World Fireworks Championship Blackpool
Each September as the summer fades, not only do the Blackpool Illuminations light up Blackpool Promenade, the World Fireworks Championships light up the sky! Taking place each Friday in September after the Blackpool Illuminations Switch-On, some of the world?s best pyrotechnic artists bring fireworks displays to Blackpool in superb fashion.
During each of the first three weeks, an international team arrives in Blackpool to bring their best willow, glitter and crackle fireworks to compete for the champion?s trophy. Regardless of which evening a visitor chooses (and many come to them all), they can expect a perfectly sychronised soundtrack which will provide a stunning accompaniment to the jaw dropping displays.
In the final week, a UK team provides an astonishing show as we celebrate the winner?s announcement.
The best thing? It?s all free. Visitors bring the whole family; these breathtaking spectacles overhead captivate everyone from toddlers to grandparents. It?s fantastic to see so many couples, families and groups follow a tradition of indulging in fish and chips or an ice-cream to sit back and see the entire resort up in lights.
Ladies and gentlemen welcome Visit Blackpool, the World Fireworks Championship Team!
Special Award: The Street Angels
Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels are part of a national network of groups which was started in started in Halifax in 2005 looking out for those who need compassion and practical help when in difficulty on a night out. Locally, the Street Angels team was formed in June 2012 and many of the volunteers come from local churches, but volunteers may come from any faith or non-faith background.
The team works in close partnership with other organisations that promote safety and welfare, including the local police, ambulance service and the door staff of pubs and clubs across the town.
They regularly deal with vulnerable people and provide basic first aid, hand out water, flip flops and provide assistance with directions and information.
This may sound like fairly basic stuff, but f you?ve ever lost your party, or a heel, or fallen over on a night out, you?ll know what a god-send a friendly face and a bit of kindness and help can be.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Blackpool & Fylde Street Angels!
Special Presentations
Thanks to Andy Mitchell for reading the Citations:
Thanks to the Deputy Mayor Gary Coleman, presentation to the Deputy Mayoress Debbie Coleman
Thanks to the President of Blackpool Civic Trust, Elaine Smith MBE
Thanks to Andy of Radio Wave, Carl Carrington and Jan Cresswell of Blackpool Council
