The annual Stars of the Stokes Awards, hosted by actor Shaun Williamson, took place on Friday 15th June at the Aztec Hotel & Spa. The sparkling red-carpet event, now in its third year, recognises and rewards the achievements of members of our local community who either go out of their way to help others, or who face daily challenges of their own.

Nominations are invited from people living in the Almondsbury, Bradley Stoke, Patchway, Stoke Lodge, Little Stoke, Stoke Gifford, Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne areas for one of eight categories including: Coach of the Year, Achievement Against the Odds, Star Teacher, Champion Carer, Parent/Guardian in a Million, Unsung Hero, Pre-School Carer and The Bailey Cooper Award for Young Heroes.

Andy Wynn, manager of the Willow Brook Centre, who created and managed the event, said:

“We received some truly fantastic nominations so choosing a winner for each category wasn’t easy. It’s humbling to know that we have such brilliant, selfless people in our local community, who prove themselves to be wholly deserving of the recognition bestowed by these awards.”

Last year, nine-year-old Bailey Cooper won the Achievement Against the Odds award for his bravery and spirit in battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Sadly, Bailey died on Christmas Eve and so a new category was created in his honour this year and his parents, Rachel and Lee, very proudly presented this award.

The event was supported by the Bradley Stoke Journal, Aztec Hotel & Spa, First Bus, Tesco Extra, Olympus Academy Trust, Carisway Facilities Support, Honeyfield Property Services and DoubleTree by Hilton Bristol North.

More: Photos and details of all the award winners »

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Local accountancy firm Dunkley’s has welcomed a Gromit sculpture back to Bradley Stoke as part of The Grand Appeal’s Gromit Unleashed 2 trail taking place in Bristol this summer.

Cupid, a paisley-printed, Valentine-inspired Gromit will be on display outside their office in support of Bristol Children’s Hospital and the Special Care Baby Unit at St Michael’s Hospital from Monday 2nd July to Sunday 2nd September 2018.

The Gromit was decorated by professional textile designer Blossom and Brush. This is the second year the textile designer has been involved in the trails having previously designed a Shaun sculpture for Shaun in the City, which sat outside St Mary Redcliffe Church.

This is the third time that Dunkley’s have supported The Grand Appeal’s award-winning sculpture trails. In 2013 Dunkley’s sponsored the ‘Two Eds are Better than One’ Gromit as part of the first Gromit Unleashed trail and in 2015 Dunkley’s sponsored ‘Shaun of the Jungle’ as part of the Shaun in the City trail.

Over the next two months, Dunkley’s are looking forward to welcoming thousands of visitors to their office to meet their newest addition, Cupid.

To align with the launch, the firm are running fundraising competitions to further promote their involvement including ‘give Gromit a makeover’ and ‘let me take a selfie with Cupid’ which links to the Gromit’s personal Instagram account @TopDogDunkleys.

More: Sculpture officially ‘opened’ by Bradley Stoke’s mayor »

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A crowd of over a hundred parents, staff and pupils gathered in the grounds of Stoke Lodge Primary School on Friday 29th June to witness the unveiling of a bench in memory of Bailey Cooper, a former pupil who sadly passed away last Christmas Eve following a brave 15-month battle with cancer.

Bailey, who was nine years old when he died, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2016. He endured four rounds of chemotherapy and steroid treatment at Bristol Children’s Hospital before being given the all-clear in February 2017 and returning to school. However, his cancer returned just a few months later and, despite the best efforts of his doctors, the disease was declared terminal at the end of August 2017.

Given just weeks to live, Bailey bravely fought on for long enough to meet his new baby sister Millie, born at the end of November.

The idea of installing a bench in Bailey’s memory was the brainchild of Roye Aguila, a parent of a pupil in Bailey’s class, who raised funds for the project by selling signed memorabilia and commissioned a wood carver to make the bench, which is decorated with the emblems of Bailey’s favourite superheroes.

More: Bench unveiled by Bristol Rovers captain Tom Lockyer »

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A young illustrator from Bradley Stoke is set to have an example of her work become one of the most photographed objects in Bristol after being selected to decorate one of the sixty-plus sculptures on the Gromit Unleashed 2 arts trail which started on 2nd July.

Hannah Bone, 23, attended Baileys Court Primary School and then Bradley Stoke Community School before taking an Art Foundation course at Bristol School of Art. She then went on to study for a BA in Illustration at the University of Plymouth, graduating with first class honours in 2017. Since then, she has been working as a freelance illustrator specialising in children’s illustration, but also taking on commissions for pet and family portraits.

After submitting a design back in December 2017, following an ‘open call’ for artists, Hannah says was “extremely excited” to be told she had been chosen as an official artist. She began painting her sculpture in May, but was sworn to secrecy and only allowed to reveal her design a few days before the start of the trail.

Hannah’s Gromit is called Rockin’ Robin and it is located at Ashton Gate Stadium, home to Bristol City FC (‘The Robins’).

More: Hannah’s book illustration work »

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