THE winners of the inaugural Worcestershire Ambassadors’ Awards have been revealed at a black-tie event.

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) awards ceremony, at Sixways by Worcestershire Ambassadors, was voted a great success by the organisers.

In front of more than 230 guests from the local business community, the winners were announced and applauded for their commitment and achievement in developing CSR in Worcestershire. The judges were particularly impressed by the winners’ long term commitment and variety of ways in which CSR is integrated into their lives and businesses on a daily basis.

The winner of the ‘environmental’ category was Jutexpo, with Bosch being given the highly commended award. The winner of the ‘workplace and staff’ category was Festival Housing, with Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce as highly commended.

The winner of the ‘community’ category was DHL with Drp group highly commended and the winner of the ‘individual’ category was Angela Davies from Postcode Anywhere with Paul Edwards from Festival Housing as highly commended.

BBC Midlands Today’s Michael Collie was guest of honour.

Sam Turner, compliance director, for Jutexpo who have sold more than 30 million ethically produced reusable jute and juco shopping bags to supermarkets, high street retailers, independents and charities, said: “To me, CSR is all about sustainability, of resources, employment, ethics and business. Our transparent approach gives our customers the trust that we treat all parts of our business with integrity.”

DHL’s operations manager Tony Wilson said: “Over the years it has given us great pleasure knowing that we have had a positive impact on the people of our community.” Chairman of Worcestershire Ambassadors Louise Hewett said: “This was a really special occasion, with a real sense of celebration throughout the evening. Being able to recognise and applaud these champions of our community, many of whom have too often gone unrecognised is very important. CSR is vital for the future of our community, and Worcestershire businesses showed that they understand and value everything about CSR. Congratulations especially to the winners, but too all those shortlisted – their hard work sets a shining example.”

Your Worcester News was shortlisted in the community category.

For further information on the Worcestershire Ambassadors, visit worcestershireambassadors.com.