#LoveSouthTyneside 2025 Winners and Nominees
The #LoveSouthTyneside Awards 2025 were held at The Customs House and saw the people of South Tyneside come together to celebrate civic pride and community spirit.
There were ten categories which celebrated the amazing community spirit that exists in South Tyneside, highlighting those unsung heroes who help others without expecting recognition.
Thank you to all of our sponsors for supporting the evening.
Below are the winners and nominees in each category.
The lead sponsor for this year's awards is Jarrow Hall.
Red Sky Foundation sponsors the Love South Tyneside Awards 2025
Supporting Others
This category celebrates special people who volunteer their time to support other people, particularly in their time of need.
Winner: Fatemeh Sharafi-Farzad
2nd Escape Interventions Services Ltd
3rd Tracy Walker
Sponsored by Banks Group
Environment
This category recognises those who volunteer their time to improve the environment in South Tyneside.
Winner: Diane Thurston
2nd Friends of Readhead Park
3rd Peter Barker
Sponsored by Pentagon Assurance
Pentagon Assurance is a North East business, with offices in South Shields. The Pentagon team support local businesses in the Engineering, Manufacturing, Energy and Construction Industries. They support the Industry to achieve Health, Safety, Quality and Environmental standards. A great sponsor for our Environment Award.
Above and Beyond
This category celebrates those who bring something extra special to their 'day job' that is recognised and valued by customers or colleagues.
Winner: Wayne Rambo Groves, The Red Bench Project
2nd Iain Connolly
3rd Amina Hyder
Sponsored by S. Walton Eye Care
Business Supporting the Community
This category recognises a business, which includes sole traders, social enterprises, community interest companies and SMEs, that play a part in South Tyneside life. This could be through structured programmes such as volunteer days for employees, to ad-hoc activity, including fundraising, donations of equipment or skills – or anything that constitutes corporate social responsibility.
This category is for businesses only. Nominations made for registered charities will be considered within the other Award categories.
Winner: Wendy Stead of Thanks a Bunch
2nd Far North Ltd
3rd Our 1 Community
Sponsored by TEDCO
Inspiring Talent
This category celebrates those who voluntarily share their talent or teach new skills to others, through sport, art, music or culture.
Winner: Bright Futures
2nd Robert Reed
3rd joint place – South Tyneside Ability FC and SURT Stopping Unsafe Relationships Together
Sponsored by ITC Service
Heart of the Community
This special award celebrates those with big hearts who have laid foundations or led initiatives that have seen community organisations grow and flourish over a number of years.
Winner: Marjorie Perriman
2nd South Tyneside Young Carers
3rd Colin Robson
Sponsored by Newcastle Building Society
Newcastle Building Society has been at the heart of South Tyneside for many years. With a branch located at the Denmark Centre in South Shields, they offer local residents a variety of mortgage and savings products, along with face-to-face financial advice from Newcastle Financial Advisers Limited. It’s great to have this stalwart of the community sponsoring our Heart of the Community.
Team of the Year
This award recognises those teams who work together as a whole to make a difference and make South Tyneside a better place.
Winner: Ashdown Care
2nd Mission to Seafarers
3rd Impact Family Services
Sponsored by Total Resources UK
Total Resources UK are a South Tyneside company with exceptional depth of experience in the highways industry. They support customers with site inspections, design, construction and delivery across all aspects of traffic management, road resurfacing and event management. They are very much a company based on Team Work, employing local people into local jobs.
Uniformed Services
This category recognises an individual or a team who plays a part in our uniformed services including armed forces, blue light and rescue, prison and probation, cadets and reservists.
Nominations could include those who volunteer with the services, as well as paid employees, and children and young people who participate in cadet programmes.
Judges will be looking for examples of exceptional performance including actions which make a difference to individuals or our community as a whole.
Winner: Ryan Young
2nd TS Raleigh Jarrow Sea Cadets
3rd 10th South Shields Boys' Brigade & Girls' Association
Sponsored by Kelly's Wharf - Hebburn Riverside
Kelly’s Wharf is a fantastic new landscaped riverside community of high quality modern living and public spaces in Hebburn.
Young Volunteer of the Year
This category recognises an individual volunteer or group of volunteers aged under 18 years old. The nominee may have joined an existing voluntary organisation and consistently given time and effort to contribute to the organisation’s aims. The nominee may be an individual or group who have set up a new activity, either individually or collectively and who have gone above and beyond to make a difference for our people or our place.
Winner: Hebburn Cemetery Teenage Volunteers
2nd SURT Stopping Unsafe Relationships Together
3rd Abbie Simpson
Sponsored by Dogger Bank Wind Farm (Equinor)
#LoveSouthTyneside Award
This category celebrates passionate people who work tirelessly to create opportunities, events and activities that inspire, promote pride in their area and involve people from all walks of life.
Winner: Jill McDonald
2nd The Red Bench Project
3rd Impact Family Services