August 15 2023 Meet our Killie Community Champions
The outstanding achievements of seven local heroes were celebrated at the inaugural Killie Community awards ceremony, hosted by former player Pat Nevin on Thursday 10th August.
More than 80 guests packed into Rugby Park’s 1869 Suite to pay tribute to the contribution of locals across the community as they picked up their honours. Nevin personally presented the awards which recognised achievements ranging from a selfless volunteer dedicated to supporting individuals with disabilities, to an inspirational one-woman wellbeing journey.
The final award of the evening was unveiled by Pip Ryan who presented the Killie Community with a £90,000 cheque following a successful application for The National Lottery’s Community Fund. The funding will enable the charity to grow over the next 3 years, sustaining free community initiatives ranging from Football Memories to Employability, Recovery Support, ASN provision and Wellbeing programmes.
You can view the full list of winners below:
In recognition of dedicating the majority of his life to supporting local adults by taking the ‘dis’ out of ‘disability’, and providing a sense of belonging through Kilmarnock Football Club, John Keast earned the first Volunteer Award.
A man with two of the most recognisable faces in town, Rikki Wallace aka Captain Conker scooped the second Volunteer Award. Alongside his matchday duties, Rikki was recognised for dedicating more than 70 hours of his personal time to Killie Community programmes, which included joining a tour of schools across Ayrshire.
A woman who has shown determination and selfless generosity to support the club while dealing with a great loss in her life, Elizabeth Clarke was proudly presented a Special Recognition award.
In memory of his father, Colin, Scott McCue embarked on a 27-mile run from Rugby Park to Somerset Park (and back!) to fundraise for the Killie Community. Raising money to install a defibrillator that has enabled youngsters to develop essential first aid skills, ultimately earned Scott the Legacy Award.
Jamie Turnbull collected the Community Spirit award for an initiative which quite literally helped to spread the Christmas cheer during the festive period. Throughout an endeavour that resulted in over 324 Christmas hampers reaching households in time for the big day, Jamie ensured that 54 local youngsters would wake up to a gift on Christmas morning.
There is no worthier winner of the Dedication Award than Marilyn Price. Starting her journey on the Killie Community’s physical wellbeing programme, Marilyn went on to become a founding member of the Women’s Recreational Football programme, in addition to raising funds for Killie Community projects by completing the 13-mile long Kiltwalk.
A champion of youngsters living with different abilities, Cameron Murray has shown exceptional dedication on a journey towards his dream of enrolling at university. After having numerous articles published on the club’s website, Cameron wowed the interview panel at Glasgow Caledonian University and has since secured his place on a journalism course. An inspiration to many, Cameron collected the Dedication Award.
You can catch a glimpse of the awards evening – HERE.
