THE first ever Pride of Maldon Awards presentation evening was held on Friday.

The ceremony, held at the town hall, saw the inspiring work of many Maldon residents honoured for their contributions to the community.

Maldon mayor Jeanette Stilts inviting more than 100 volunteers to join her in celebration of Maldon’s unsung heroes that work behind the scenes to contribute to the town.

The winners were decided by a judging panel under the eye of the Master of Ceremonies Mark Heard.

There were more than 70 nominations for the nine awards for work conducted over the past year.

Citizen of the year was awarded to Albert Kirby for his “selfless” community efforts, and carers of the year was presented to Karen Petch and Sharon Markham from the Alzheimer’s Society Maldon Information Hub, which provides support and friendship to people in the local community affected by dementia and their carers.

The young achiever of the year was named as Holly Quarmby, a Plume Academy student, with the award being presented to Carl Wakefield on her behalf. Holly raised a significant sum taking part in the British Cancer Research Event “Race for Life”, and inspired other to join in with her fund raising efforts.

Michael Lester was awarded educator of the year, for his teaching and support to foreign languages and mathematics students at Plume.

The community impact award was given to Maldon & Dengie Stroke Support and Carers’ Group, while Tracey Temme picked up the long service volunteer certificate for her work with the Sea Cadets.

William Geller, who has supported the Maldon Art Club and Friends of the Moot Hall tirelessly over many years, was presented with the arts and culture aware, with Topsail Charters Ltd picking up best business contribution to the Maldon community.

Following an inspiring speech about what makes Maldon so special from Carl Wakefield, the prestigious Pride of Maldon award for 2018 was awarded to Julie Taylor, who manages the community café at St Peter’s Hospital.

Julie and her volunteers not only cook and serve, but also hold fund raising activities such as raffles, parties, prize bingo, a library, knit and natter groups and support local charities.

Jeanette Stilts said: “We should all be proud of Julie Taylor, for without her, Maldon would be so much the poorer.”