Every neighbourhood has them. The neighbour who checks on the elderly man three doors down. The volunteer who keeps the food bank stocked. The parent who runs the youth club on a Friday night for nothing but the love of it. These are the community heroes of Tees Valley, the everyday people who hold neighbourhoods together without ever asking for thanks. The Tees Valley EDI Awards exist to make sure they are seen, and this is a small tribute to the quiet work that keeps our region standing.
Who are the community heroes?
Community heroes rarely have a title or a job description. They are the people who notice what needs doing and simply do it. They organise the litter picks, translate for a family finding their feet, sit with someone who is lonely, or open a door that changes a young person’s life. Across Tees Valley, thousands of people give their time this way, often on top of jobs and families of their own. They are the human infrastructure of a place, and a region is only as strong as they are.
You will find community heroes in every part of Tees Valley and in every community within it. Some are teenagers, some are in their eighties. Some have lived here all their lives, others arrived last year and threw themselves into helping their new home. What they share is a simple instinct to look out for the people around them. Naming and celebrating them is not about singling a few people out. It is about honouring a spirit that lives right across the region.
Why they go unseen
The very thing that makes these heroes special is also why they go unnoticed. They do not seek attention. They would tell you they are just doing what anyone would, or that others deserve the credit more. But work done quietly is still work that matters, and recognition is not about ego. It is about saying thank you, showing others what good looks like, and encouraging more people to step forward. When a hidden hero is celebrated, a whole community feels lifted.
How the EDI Awards celebrate them
The Tees Valley EDI Awards, formerly the BME Achievement Awards, have championed the region’s unsung heroes since 2010. Categories like Community Ambassador and Community Champion exist precisely to shine a light on the individuals whose impact is felt on the ground but rarely in the headlines. On awards night, people who have spent years in the background finally get their moment in front of a room that stands to applaud them. You can see all the ways we recognise achievement in the award categories, and look back at those already honoured on the previous winners page.
Recognition that ripples outward
Celebrating a community hero does more than reward one person. It tells everyone watching that their own small acts of kindness count. It inspires a teenager to volunteer, a business to back a local cause, a neighbour to knock on a door they might have walked past. That is how one quiet act becomes many, and how a region grows kinder one recognition at a time. The heroes were always there. The awards simply make sure the rest of us notice.
Nominate a hero
You almost certainly know one. Nominating them is free and takes about ten minutes, and nominations for 2026 are open until 2 October. Read more about the awards, or nominate a community hero now. The people holding our neighbourhoods together deserve to hear that we noticed.
