Pride Of Britain TSB Community Partner Award: Summer Of Pride Comes To Newcastle!

Who inspires you in your local area?  Know someone who does great things in your community?

Now is the time to nominate them for the TSB Community Partner Award in the Pride of Britain awards!

This year, TSB bank have partnered with Trinity Mirror’s Pride of Britain, which holds an annual awards ceremony to honour everyday unsung heroes.  It is the only event of its kind here in the UK and you may well have seen the star studded event televised on ITV.  I’ve watched it many a time and have always been in awe of the incredible acts of courage, bravery and determination shown.

Seeing everyday people battle against the odds for the good of others is truly inspiring and always makes me reflect on my own life and what I could do more to help others.

On the night of the awards ceremony, TSB will have their own specific award, the TSB Community Partner Award, which will recognise and celebrate ordinary people who making amazing contributions to their local communities.

If you’ve heard about TSB Local Pride then you’ll know that they’re all about people helping people and all thriving together as a result.  Their community spirit is the driving force behind them partnering with Pride of Britain and Pride of Sport because thats what they’re all about too.

Nominations for all of the awards are now open and to celebrate the launch, the Pride of Britain are going on tour!

The Summer of Pride Tour sees a tea of Minis whizzing around the country, stopping at TSB branches and well known landmarks along the way.  Today, they were in Newcastle, first at the Angel of the North and secondly at the TSB branch on Northumberland Street.  I grabbed the chance to get a selfie in one of the Minis before submitting my nomination for the TSB Community Partner Award.

My nomination is for retired scientist, Minty Nichol, and community choir leader, Ashleigh Lowes who set up the Tuneless Choir in Newcastle last September.  They’re all about bringing people together within the community who love to sing but perhaps feel as though they can’t or aren’t good enough for a traditional choir.

We all know the line, ‘sing like no ones listening,’ well thats exactly what they encourage everyone to do.  I signed up when it very first launched and I cannot begin to describe how great it felt to be able to do something simply for the sheer enjoyment of it.  There always seems to be such a pressure to get everything right in life but the Tuneless Choir is all about inspiring confidence to experience the joy of singing without judgement.  Ashleigh does a sterling job at encouraging this every fortnight and its great to see how quickly people relax after turning up to their first session a little nervous.

On my first session, I felt shy and embarrassed but immediately felt at ease.  The majority of my life seems to be very stressful in recent years but with the choir, I was able to completely switch off, be present in the moment and enjoy doing something I love with others who share the same love of singing.

The group as a whole is totally a mixed bag as everyone is so different which is why they make such a great community, joined together by a love of singing.

You can follow the Newcastle Tuneless Choir on Twitter and Facebook and check out the main website here.  I’d love to see you at the next session and I know that Ashleigh and Minty would too!

Throughout the Summer of Pride, there will be competitions running in TSB branches that anyone can enter.  Simply head into the branch and take a selfie of your own and you could win tickets to the Pride of Britain.  Wow, what an incredible honour that would be!

Do you know someone who you think should win the TSB Community Partner Award?  Then submit your nomination here!

Don’t forget to check out the TSB Local Pride site too to see how they’re celebrating ordinary people, working together to make good things happen!