Croydon’s Champions were honoured at an awards ceremony to recognise the borough’s unsung heroes.

Hundreds gathered at the Hilton hotel in Croydon last Thursday for the Croydon Guardian’s tenth annual awards ceremony which aims to honour the bravery, selflessness and commitment of the people of Croydon.

More than 180 people watched perfomances from Brit School’s Harry Linacre and Bre-Antonia McDermott-King and heard speeches from Gavin Barwell MP and Croydon Mayor Graham Bass.

A decade ago, in partnership with Croydon Council, the Croydon Guardian launched these awards to recognise the borough's real heroes.

Since then hundreds of people have been nominated for an award, and 100 Croydon Champions trophies have been handed out.

The primary reason for these nights is to show everyone what a wonderful bunch of people live and work in Croydon and honour those who go that bit extra to help other people.

Assistant editor Matthew Knowles said: “After the riots, many people thought Croydon was going to take a long time to fully recover. But the level of optimism among the winner's, many of them directly affected by that night's devastation, and the indomitable spirit of the people of the borough could not hold us back for long.

“This year’s Croydon Champions entries shows the events of August 8 could not curb the community's levels giving and helping within the borough.

“Everyone who was nominated was amazing.”

BUSINESS CHAMPION
Finalists:
Laurence Rook
House of Reeves
Kinghams Alfa Romeo

WINNER: House of Reeves
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Laurence Rook.

ACT OF BRAVERY:
Finalists:
PC Nigel Albuery
Dominic Mcgeekie
PC Andy Hewlett

WINNER: PC Andy Hewlett
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Dominic Mcgeekie

ARTS CHAMPION:
Finalists:
Undercroydon
Nikita Bazil
Brit School

WINNER: Undercroydon
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Nikita Bazil

CHILD OF COURAGE:
Finalists:
Kaycee Brooker-Martin
Nevaeh Green
Luke Vaz

WINNER: Nevaeh Green
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Luke Vaz

COMMUNITY CHAMPION:
Finalists:
Dan Hicks
Orin Lewis
Green Dragon pub

WINNER: Dan Hicks
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Orin Lewis

SPORTING CHAMPION:
Finalists:
David Lomas Jimi Manuwa
Mike Fleet

WINNER: David Lomas
COMMENDED: Jimi Manuwa

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Finalists:
Waddon Wanderers football club
Children's hospital at home
Applegarth Junior School’s Girls Athletics Team

WINNER: Waddon Wanderers football club
HIGHLY COMMENDED - Children's hospital at home

CHARITY VOLUNTEER:
Finalists:
Margaret Surrey and Bobby Jones
Tamkin Riaz
Maureen Stevens

WINNER: Margaret Surrey and Bobby Jones
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Maureen Stevens

PARENT OF THE YEAR: Finalists:
Janet Prescott
Dervin Mayne
Stella Gibbs

WINNER: Dervin Mayne
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Stella Gibbs

TEACHER OF THE YEAR: Finalists:
Daisy Rudling
Marcia
Bruno Gomes

WINNER: Marcia Blair
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Daisy Rudling

Click here to see pictures from the Croydon Champions 2011 awards ceremony