This is a brand-new award for 2025 which has been introduced to recognise those businesses, individuals and groups that have supported WF3 Kindness during the last 12 months.

Northern Accountants have supported us for the last couple of years. Led by Managing Director, Phil Ellerby, the team have supported many of our programs, including sponsoring our last two community Easter Trails, our Christmas events and also some special one-off appeals.

One of our most memorable appeals came about last summer, when we received a call late one night about a mum and her two children - including a six-week-old baby - who had been moved to our community for their own safety.

The family arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The police had allowed the little girl to take just one toy from home -  her baby doll. Everything else had to be left behind.

They were moved into a safe house, but it was completely unfurnished. No microwave, no bedding, no towels, no curtains, no plates - and Mum had no money. 

When Phil from Northern Accountants saw our appeal, he got in touch immediately. He told Dan, “Get whatever you need and send me the bill.” 

Furthermore when Dan mentioned that it was the little girl’s eighth birthday that very day. Phil didn’t hesitate - he said, “Get them a Pizza Hut tea, a cake, some presents — we have to!”

When the team delivered everything that evening, Mum was in tears. She told Dan that we’d saved her life - and without our help, she might have felt forced to return to the unimaginable situation she had fled just 24 hours earlier.

That is the reason this team do what we do and we can only do it because of people like Phil and supporters like Northern Accountants!

The Country Kitchen 2 is a café which opened at Amblers Orchard on Westerton Road, the restaurant is open to members of the public for breakfast and lunch and you can even hire the space for private functions.

We received a record number of nominations for The Country Kitchen 2 team who have made a real difference to residents of the home as well as the local community. One of the nominations we received said:

“My relative hasn’t been able to spend Christmas Day with the family for the last 3 years due to not really been able to leave the home. This year, we went to The Country Kitchen 2 – it was a beautiful Christmas lunch, Darren, Anne and their chef did a fantastic job. We didn’t think that we would be able to enjoy Christmas dinner as a family again, but they made it happen and gave us all memories to last forever.”

“This café is more than just somewhere to grab a coffee. They have created a community where residents and the public can come together. It’s a special place”

Tracey and Matthew took over at The British Oak (or The Drop), just 2 years ago.

They have become a real asset to the community, offering help and support to those that need it and putting on some pretty special events. The pub even brought the world-famous Coca-Cola Truck to Tingley for the first time ever last Christmas.

“Tracey and Matthew are strong on the community – they encourage all their staff to be there for people when needed. They have done lots of fundraising for different charities and appeals, including WF3 Kindness, and are always collecting food for the local food bank. The coca-cola truck was something very special for our community – a real first. I know the organisers had some challenges on the day but they all did an amazing job! Thank you to The British Oak and WF3 Kindness”

Lorna & Thea go above and beyond to help their 91 year old neighbour, Thomas, who lives alone.

Whether it’s doing his shopping, helping him around the house, taking his bins out, taking in his prescriptions, or feeding the sheep in his field – they are always there for him.

Thea helps Thomas daily with the challenges he is facing in his ‘wisdom’ years and have both become the friendly face and conversation that he loves each day.

They both do this without complaint or grumble, Lorna is a single parent to Thea and works full time at the local school yet still finds time to help others when they need it.

Bev & Joe have supported lots of charities over the years, they decorate their house and garden in East Ardsley every year with amazing Halloween decorations - they work hard to make it special for the young ones and bring the community together.

Over the years, Bev and Joe have raised funds during Halloween for different local charities, including WF3 Kindness and Codies Defibrillator Fund. 

The couple haven’t had it easy these last few months, having been burgled and having their car stolen yet they always help everyone else.

The Food Pantry at West Ardsley Methodist Church has the motto “no one should go hungry” which is why they set up as a food bank open to people each week.

The Food Pantry is led by Sarah Canning and a group of volunteers who are always welcoming to those that attend, they make sure people are looked after and know where they can turn. They don’t demand paperwork or referrals, anyone can turn up on a Friday and get some help, they have become a real lifeline to lots of people and live firmly by their motto!

A nominee said:

“When I first attended the Food Pantry after my violent ex-partner left with all my money, I felt ashamed. I was scared, I thought I would be judged or reported to social services for not providing for my little boy. The volunteers were so kind and caring. I’m not sure how we would have got through times this year without them.”

Tracey Cavinder set up the group at The Hare & Hounds about 7 years ago. The group brings people together to enjoy a cuppa together and have some company. The group has become a valuable service to members of our community.

One of the nominations said:

“This group is amazing. I didn’t know it at the time but I was depressed a few years ago, I was lonely and felt like I didn’t know anyone, after going along to this great group I now have friends and people that care about me. We have a laugh and that is the best medicine in the world”

Helena takes a group for Line Dancing every Tuesday afternoon at Woodkirk Church Hall, it is a friendly group for all abilities of Line Dancing.

As well as taking part in Line Dancing, the group raise funds which go towards the church. 

One of the nominations said:

“The group is so welcoming! I took my Grandma along and we had a great afternoon, Helena was fantastic and everyone had a lovely afternoon”

We received many nominations for Steve who is the Secretary at Woodkirk Valley FC. The club was founded in 2001 and has grown massively with over 30 football teams across all ages along with two dedicated women’s rounders teams.

A nomination said:

“Steve gives so much for the club, all his spare time he puts into the club to create the best football experience for the kids and parents. He supports all the coaches, provides top class facilities for the kids, and recently introduced a new team app for coaches, parents and players to take the club to the next level. 

The club is always on the up thanks to Steve’s commitment and hard work”

Miss Richardson from Hill Top Primary was nominated by a parent who said:

“My daughter is partially blind with severe impaired vision and Miss Richardson is her assistant teacher. She has been with my daughter since nursery, and she goes above and beyond in helping and supporting her as much as she needs. She changes her books, homework and any paper sheets into large print and is always nearby in PE lessons and at playtime outside. She supports her with medication as my daughter is on regular medication for the rest of her life. Miss Richardson is really nice, kind and Mia absolutely adores her.”

Mr Whawell from Westerton Primary can’t be with us this evening but we have asked his colleague Mrs Lancaster to collect the award on his behalf. Mr Whawell was nominated by parents and colleagues who said:

“Jez volunteers his time after school to provide children with extra-curricular activities. As the PE lead, he ensures that children have opportunities to take part in different sporting activities during and after school, often not returning to school until after 5.30pm before going home to his family. He will do anything for anyone even though he is always busy and puts others before himself, he is kind and thoughtful and will listen to staff and children if they are ever upset or cross.”

Mrs Wilks form Thorpe Primary was nominated by parents, one said:

“Mrs Wilks is the head teacher, I feel since she's been at this school she has gone above and beyond for all the children, she treats every child with the merit they deserve. she makes attending school so welcoming to all children and their parents and carers”

Miss Wilson from Rodillain Academy was nominated by a parent who said:

“Miss Wilson has supported my child for a number of months now, she identified a need and has not just supported my child but me also. She has also been very compassionate to my child following a family bereavement last term – her kindness and thoughtfulness has gone a long way.”

Mrs Worsley from Woodkirk Academy was nominated by a parent who said:

“Mrs Worsley has put in so much effort and care into my son's well-being since he started at high school. Her kindness, hard work and dedication has ensured that he has had a positive start. She has got to know my son and build his trust, he is neuro diverse and previously experienced school trauma, having a negative view of himself and his needs, however he is now wanting to come to school and is enjoying learning. Thank you to Mrs Worsley for showing him that being Neuro diverse is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Diane does so much for our community. She runs the little free library and arranges lots of seasonal activities, including the Easter Trail and letters to Santa – she makes sure that Santa replies to every single letter and arranges elves to make the special delivery!

Every afternoon for over 45 years, Rodney has walked around Tingley, picking up litter, dog muck and even removing any obstacles blocking pavements (such as cutting hedges for people that can’t do it, re-positioning fences and anything else he finds untoward!

Sonia moved to the area early last year and has become a star volunteer for various groups. Despite struggling herself at times, Sonia pushes herself to make a difference to everybody else who may be less fortunate. One of the nominations we received for Sonia said:

“Since moving into the Tingley 'family' she has been instrumental in providing support, encouragement and kindness to various people across the community.  She really goes the extra mile in making sure people around her feel safe.”

Mike Robinson and Jackie Fairburn from The Hare & Hounds pub have come together to set up a new search and rescue service.

The Air & Hounds have provided help and support to people searching for missing pets using specialised drone equipment. The group is funded by Mike and Jackie and has the support of the community, a nomination said:

“The Air & Hounds helped look for our dog who bolted at the reservoir. Mike found out and met us there – he got his drone up and found him in a nearby field. I had no idea what to do or who to turn to, Mike was a knight in shining armour for us - Thank you Mike!”

Sharna lives in Tingley, she is well known throughout the area, particularly through her job as a Youth Worker at Tingley Youth Club.

In May last year, she spent several weeks seriously ill in hospital and was told by doctors that she had Lung Cancer. Faced with a terminal diagnosis it made Sharna sit back and really look at life and what she wants to do… she wanted to follow a dream that she had as a little girl which was to sing.

Sing is what she did! Alongside her husband, Jim, she has travelled and performed at venues across the region, sharing her love of music and performing.

A nomination said:

“Sharna is just a true inspiration, the way that has dealt with her ill health and terminal diagnosis, is heroic. She has done so much for the kids of this community in previous years and she’s still doing it now, showing them that despite what life throws at you, you can still move forward and live the best life you can”

Braeside Bakes have been trading for the last 4 years from Rein Road in Tingley where customers are always guaranteed top class experience.

Be it 6 personalised cupcakes or dipping platters for 200 people, all customers receive great service from Emma and the team who get involved with lots of local community events and programs.

They have supported WF3 Kindness in many ways, including making tasty treats for guests at these awards as well as supporting us at our events throughout the year.

Braeside Bakes have become a much-loved local business!

Archie’s Caravan was created in loving memory of a very special little boy called Archie, who sadly lost his life to cancer in 2021. Archie lived in Morley with his Mum and Dad, Hayley and Craig and siblings Lilly and Harry.

Archie’s Caravan charity provides free holidays to families with a child who has been diagnosed with cancer. This provides families with the opportunity to spend quality time together, making special memories and taking a break when they need it the most.

Archie’s caravan is situated at the Haven Reighton Sands holiday park in Filey on the Yorkshire Coast.

Kieran won an award last year in recognition of his achievements in Ice Hockey for Leeds Knights over the last 8 years, as well as being diagnosed with a left middle fossa arachnoid cyst in the brain.

Since our last awards, Kieran went to play for England’s under 14s team in a tournament in Finland which they won, bringing home the Gold!

In December, he took part in the winter classic tournament in Sheffield, which they went on to win and he was awarded the Most Valuable Player award for the game.

Amongst all this, and in between his exploits with England, he was scouted for the Elite British selects team who travelled to Chicago, USA in October for 7 days, making it to the quarter finals.

Looking to this year, The Elite British selects have also been confirmed to travel to Helsinki next month 2025 and Chicago again in November.

Kieran remains under a paediatric consultant for observation for his medical condition, having to undergo annual scans to check growth, which at present, remains stable and he is clear to play and fly.

Abi Joy needs no introduction to these awards! She is followed by people across our community, the country and even the world… she is known more than Billy Pearce!

Abi has made thousands and thousands of lovely bracelets which she calls Joylets and they literally get sent all over the world. It’s a full family mission to keep up to the demand for Abi’s Joylets with Mum Gaynor, Dad Richard and big brother Lewis all having to get involved.

Abi and her family have been nominated in each of our awards and Abi has an impressive selection of trophies and certificates for all the work she does to spread joy across the world!

The spreading Joy award is a new award that will be selected every year by Abi!

Camille volunteers for groups and events in West Ardsley. She is always happy to help from litter picking, bulb planting, arranging community events, managing the defib in West Ardsley, to supporting the Clothing Bank.

Camille constantly puts others first, she arranged the community tree light switch on, encouraging Tingley Garden Centre to donate a tree for local children to decorate in the lead up to Christmas.

We had lots of nominations for Camille, including:

“Camille helps anyone and everything! If it needs doing in this community, then she will put her hand up and do it. She is a very kind and hard-working person and only wants the best for our community”

“Camille makes the grumpy old men of the village do as we’re told! When we moan about things she makes them better – She is the Queen of Ardsley!”

This award is proudly sponsored by Room 77 – Hair by Jamie and is dedicated to the memory of Kate Allen, a much-loved East Ardsley resident and recipient of a Best of WF3 Award in 2023.

In 2024, we renamed The People’s Champion award to The Kate Allen People’s Champion in honour of Kate, who sadly passed away after a courageous battle with breast cancer. Kate was a dear friend and supporter of WF3 Kindness and was well known throughout our community.

This is the only award decided entirely by public vote and includes every single nominee—meaning anyone could win, whether they’re a nominee, a finalist, or even a previous award winner.

Archie was just 3 years old when he was diagnosed with a very aggressive brain tumour in June 2021, the family were later advised that in most cases it is fatal.

Archie’s Mum and Dad just wanted to get away for a few days after the diagnosis, they jumped in the car and headed off to his favourite place – the beach.

After lots of research and hospital meetings, Archie underwent a 10-hour operation, with family and friends beginning to fundraise through “Archie’s Army” to make sure that he would have access to critical proton beam therapy after the surgery, which would help prevent any relapse.

Sadly though, the news that everyone had been praying for wasn’t to be, it was too dangerous to remove all the tumour as it was too close to Archie’s brain stem. Proton beam therapy was now no longer an option, but the surgery had bought brave Archie and his family some time and from then not a single minute was wasted, with another trip to the seaside arranged so that he could get back on the beach.

Hayley and Craig then started to think about what would happen to the money that was  so generously donated now that it couldn’t be used for Archie’s further treatment… They wanted to directly help other families going through a similar experience and help them make special memories with loved ones. This led to the idea of “Archie’s Caravan”, a brand-new holiday home on the beach that other families could use to get away.

It was perfect, Hayley and Craig knew that Archie’s favourite place in the world was the beach! He’d be playing, laughing, having an ice cream, and getting very messy and getting away for a short break provided Hayley and Craig the chance to escape the reality of Archie’s illness and it gave Lily, Harry and Archie some special sibling time together.

Reighton Sands Holiday Park in Filey was chosen as the perfect place, a caravan was secured, and work undertaken to make sure it was fully wheelchair accessible. As poorly as Archie was, he managed a little visit to see the caravan and told Hayley “Mummy I love this caravan”. He always knew this was going to be Archie’s Caravan.

Archie’s caravan has since become a special place for families with a child that have had a cancer diagnosis or are going through treatments to escape to. It’s clean, it’s safe, fully accessible and complete with little extras and surprises for these much deserving families. For them to have some laughter and light in their darkest times, giving them the chance to make some special memories. Crucially for these families all of this is provided completely free of charge.

Archie passed away at home on November 7th 2021 leaving his family, friends and the community that had got to know and love him throughout his journey devastated, however his name and legacy lives on and they are helping others going through the most unimaginable times.

Steven has contributed to our community and surrounding area for many years.

He has performed with Morley Amateur Operatic Society for the last 53 years, serving on the committee for 45 years and appearing in over a hundred consecutive Pantomimes and musicals (being the Dame for the past 25 years!)

He was awarded the National Operatic and Dramatic Association long service award for contribution to Amateur Theatre in 2022.

Steven is also Morley's Town Crier, he was appointed in the voluntary role in 2020 (just in time for Lockdown) and has made over 120 Cries in Morley and surrounding areas, marking important National and Local events, including, announcing the death of Her Majesty. He has represented Morley in around 20 Town Crier Competitions all over the country, including in the grounds of Windsor Castle just a few weeks before Her Majesty's death.

Steven has also helped with special festive activities over the years, with 24 events last year alone, including the Morley Lights switch-on!

He does so much for various causes, including the Royal British Legion manning Poppy stalls for many years, and has also recently made his 125th blood donation!