Eunice Cooper nominated for Volunteer of the Year Community Pride award

Eunice Cooper, of Haxby, who runs the Gillygate Friends of Martin House Hospice group, has been nominated in the Volunteer of the Year category.

The group was set up in 2002 after the closure of Martin House Hospice charity shop in Gillygate, where Mrs Cooper was a volunteer.

Since it was formed, the Gillygate Friends group has raised more than £30,000 by staging events such as raffles, charity collections and coffee mornings.

Mrs Cooper, 74, was put forward for the accolade by Ivy Eden, another Martin House Hospice volunteer who has known her for 20 years.

Mrs Eden said her friend was always baking for good causes and her spare bedroom was full to the brim of toys she had knitted to raise funds for the hospice.

She said: “On tin collection days she is there all day come rain or shine. Cheerful and enthusiastic, Eunice is the real pearl in the oyster.”

Mrs Cooper has been involved with numerous other charities and organisations over the years, including York Against Cancer and the Mothers’ Union, which meets at St Mary’s Church Hall in Haxby.

The deadline for entries to our Community Pride Awards, which are being run in partnership with City of York Council and Benenden Healthcare Society, is Friday, July 23.

A panel of judges will then draw up a shortlist, and finalists from each category will be invited to a ceremony at York Racecourse in October.

To make a nomination, fill in the entry form and return it with a supporting statement setting out why your nominee deserves an award.