Tears of pride at last year’s County Times Community Awards

The shocked face of Karen Newman, a care assistant at St. Catherine’s Hospice, and the palpable emotion at the awards ceremony as she accepted the gong provided one of the highlights of the evening.

Karen was visibly shocked as she made her way onto the stage - and was left completely dumbfounded when a patient paid tribute to her from his hospital bed.

There were few dry eyes at the Capitol when lung cancer sufferer Talat Chaudhry congratulated Karen for winning the award, via a pre-recorded message.

After the show, she said: “That was a complete shock - I wasn’t expecting a patient to have said something.”

Nominated by her colleagues for the dedication she gives to patients, Karen paid tribute to her fellow carers at St. Catherine’s and said what a wonderful place it is to work.

Nominations for this year’s County Times Community Awards have been flooding in.

But we want to hear about even more community stars in our quest to find the most community-minded people from across the Horsham district.

You can nominate online - click here to fill in the short online form.

Alternatively, you can complete the form inside the newspaper.

Last year’s event saw laughter, joy and tears as dozens of community champions were celebrated, while last month’s inaugural County Times Youth Awards honoured some of the Horsham district’s wonderful young people.

This year’s Community Awards, to be held on Tuesday November 18, promises to continue with the heartwarming community theme.