Your nominations for the Oxfordshire Health & Social Care Awards are in – and our judges have their work cut out to whittle down their shortlist.

From hospital staff on the Covid frontline and carers looking after the most vulnerable in the community to key-workers and volunteers stoically keeping the country going, we’ve received nearly 150 nominations, each more moving and heartfelt than the next.

Over the next few weeks, our judging panel will have the challenging task of selecting a handful of finalists in each category from a pool of outstanding nominees. Their shortlist will be announced later this month in a special supplement profiling every local hero and healthcare team up for an award.

“We have been amazed by the response to the awards and would like to thank everyone who has sent in a nomination,” said editor Pete Gavan. “This has gone far beyond what we could have possibly imagined. We cannot wait to celebrate our finalists’ achievements, selflessness and resilience and give them the recognition they so rightly deserve. On a personal note, I have been extremely moved by the stories you have shared with us. The breadth of nominations has really brought home the importance and benefits of coming together as a community in difficult times, whether it be by working on the frontline or ensuring an isolated neighbour doesn’t fall through the net during lockdown. Every nominee has made a huge difference to the lives of so many and they’re all winners in my view, regardless of the outcome.”

The latest and final batch of nominations has been the widest ranging yet. Local volunteers, in particular, featured heavily among the nominees this time around.

Beryl Smart, who has worked round-the-clock to ensure those grieving the loss of loved ones to Covid in Oxfordshire receive much-needed support from Cruse Bereavement Care was put forward for the Volunteer of the Year Award by her colleague Margaret Denman.

“Without her the organisation may have collapsed,” Margaret said. “She listens to the answer machine, takes the referrals, and allocates the clients to the bereavement volunteers. As well as organising she has clients herself and also supervises other volunteers. She helps with every aspect of the organisation - all done from home by zoom, email or telephone. In fact we became so efficient that we were able to help out with clients from other areas where they did not have enough volunteers. She works tirelessly for Cruse which is tough as every interaction involves a death. This is particularly difficult to deal with in a pandemic when we have all been facing up to our own mortality. It is also hard to do in one's own home with no support from other people.”

Also providing invaluable help to the most vulnerable, Luther Street Medical Centre in Oxford was nominated in the GP Practice of the Year category by Karen Rogers for actively seeking out and offering care to marginalised patients, including the homeless and people grappling with addiction.

“They provide care in an accessible way to people who find it challenging to engage with mainstream primary care, offering same-day appointments in most situations and outreach to the most difficult to engage patients,” said Karen, who is one of the specialist nurses at Howard House. “Many homeless and vulnerably housed people would not be able to access primary care services regularly. This means that complex physical and mental health issues would often go untreated. I nominate the whole team - they are all amazing, highly dedicated professionals.”