IT WILL be a very special evening – and tonight this year’s A Place to be Proud of champions will be recognised and honoured at the milestone 20th anniversary awards.

Around 300 people will be attending the awards at the Haymarket Theatre, and past winners from the last two decades will be among the audience.

As well as crowning the winners in eight categories, the awards night will see special performances by Kala the Arts and BATS Next Gen.

Jonathan Pender, chair of Destination Basingstoke, which organises the awards, said: “We are all looking forward to these milestone awards and to recognising and celebrating the nominees, finalists and winners in each category.

“Thanks so much to all the category sponsors, to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for being the overall event sponsor of the 20th anniversary awards, and to Basingstoke Voluntary Action and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for being our key partners for the awards.

“We are also delighted to have the ongoing support of the Gazette as our media partner. They were involved in founding the awards and it is great to have had their support over the last two decades.”

It was back in 2003 that the first awards were launched – and since then, hundreds of wonderful finalists and winners have been recognised for their outstanding achievements in, or contributions to, Basingstoke and Deane.

There are a range of categories, sponsored by local businesses. The categories are:

  • Health & Wellbeing Award – sponsored by Lilly
  • Community Project Award – sponsored by Destination Basingstoke
  • Above and Beyond Award – sponsored by Castle Trust Bank
  • Volunteer of the Year Award – sponsored by Beaufort Financial (Reading)
  • Arts & Entertainment Award – sponsored by Basingstoke Community Radio
  • Young Role Model Award – sponsored by Queen Mary’s College 
  • Unsung Hero Award – sponsored by Champion Group
  • Business and the Community Award – sponsored by Shaw Gibbs