Midlothian Volunteer Awards Ceremony 2022

Volunteer Midlothian held its first in-person Midlothian Volunteer Awards ceremony since 2019 earlier this month.

Over 100 people were in attendance as the local group celebrated Midlothian’s numerous nominees and award winners.

Speaking about the event at Newbattle Abbey College, Robbie Buntin of Volunteer Midlothian said: “It was a resounding success!

"The ceremony acted as a great opportunity to be able to celebrate the work that all the nominees had done and illustrate the impact that volunteering can have.”

The Volunteer Midlothian award winners for 2022.

The 2022 Awardees were: Volunteer of the Year – Karyn McGrath from Anam Cara.

Volunteer Team of the Year – Ageing Well Volunteer Team. Outstanding New Volunteer of the Year - Margaret McMeekin from Transform Project at Volunteer Midlothian.

Befriender / Mentor / Digital Volunteer of the Year – Alan Paterson from Thornton Rose Riding for the Disabled (RDA).

Active / Climate Change Volunteer of the Year – The Amazing Brains Committee at Art Club.

The Volunteer Midlothian pandas.

Service to the Community Award – Juliette Paris from Rosewell Tennis.

Health and Wellbeing Volunteer of the Year – Margaret Canning from Hearing Link Scotland.

Dedicated Service Award – John McVeigh from Health in Mind. Equality and Diversity Volunteer of the Year – Joanna Haba from Home Link.

Saltire Summit Awards – Sam Ewens (Transform – Volunteer Midlothian), Lucy White (Oxfam), Andrew Hogg (Transform - Volunteer Midlothian) , Caitlin Chambers (Midlothian Youth Platform), Kari Calder (Midlothian Youth Platform), and Jaylynn King (Y2K).

Inside the awards ceremony.

Commenting on Volunteer Midlothian’s competition for local school pupils, Robbie added: “Our panda mascot was finally named! After receiving over 90 submissions from various primary school pupils in Midlothian, our mascot received the name ‘Pretzel’ after a closely contested vote at the Awards Ceremony.

"The winning pupil is Finlay from Woodburn Primary School, who’s won them and each of their classmates a panda, as well as a voucher for their school.”