By Sian Hewitt

sian.hewitt@essnmedia.co.uk

THE town's unsung heroes were recognised last night (Wednesday) at the first ever Crawley’s Champions awards ceremony.

The Crawley News took over The Hawth theatre to celebrate and thank community stalwarts, both young and old, who go out of their way to make a difference to others' lives.

Over the past few months we have been asking our readers to nominate deserving contenders.

We were inundated with moving stories of caring neighbours, inspiring youngsters and lifesaving volunteers.

And last night 14 awards were given out at a glittering ceremony attended by more than 400 people.

The winners were:

Champion of Emergency Services - Bewbush PCSOs Shelley Brown and Tracey Collyer

Champion of Neighbours - John Wright

Champion of Medical Profession - Crawley Community First Response Team

Champion of Education - Former Manor Green head teacher David Reid

Champion of Volunteering - Gary Morris

Champion of Community Groups - Crawley Community Transport

Champion of Arts - Ginger Moo Gallery

Champion of Young People - Stuart Bayliss and Kai Bristow

Champion of Sport - George Brown

Champion of Carers - Crawley Open House

Champion of Business - Laserhub

Champion of Courage - Maria Hains

Champion of Customer Excellence - Ruth Growney

Champion of Champions - St Catherine’s Hospice

*For a full report on the ceremony, reaction to the night and pictures of all the winners see next week’s Crawley News