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Last modified: 01 Aug 2021 12:39pm

Waitaha School has taken out the People’s Choice honour at the 2021 Selwyn Awards, voted on by a record number of Selwyn residents.

Waitaha School was one of 104 Selwyn businesses, groups and individuals recognised for their excellence at the Selwyn Awards Gala Dinner, held at the Lincoln Event Centre on Saturday evening [31 July].

A sold-out crowd of 450 celebrated the success of district at the largest ever Selwyn Awards.

Comedian Ben Hurley compered the evening, and guests were entertained by a talented line-up including renowned soprano Amanda Atlas, award-winning entertainer Trevor Jones, eight-piece band Studio 54 featuring vocalist Courtenay Washington, and eye-catching visual acts from Epic Entertainment.

The menu included a range of food and beverages sourced from Selwyn producers.

In a first for the awards, gold, silver and bronze honours were presented along with overall award winners for each of the 10 categories. A full list of for each category is available at www.selwyn.govt.nz/selwynawards.

It was a new look awards, with a number of changes building on the experiences of previous years. These included an expanded range of categories, the ability for entrants to nominate themselves, and a points-based scoring system.

This resulted in a record number of nominees and votes for the People’s Choice Award. Nearly 7,000 votes were cast for the People’s Choice Award.

Mayor Sam Broughton says it was great to see the community supporting local people working for the good of Selwyn.

"These awards are a fantastic celebration of Selwyn, and the innovation, passion, excellence and diversity of our businesses here. It’s been great to see how people value the awards and have got behind them this year – it was a really fun night," he says.

"I’m very proud of all our winners and applicants – it just shows what a wealth of talent and creativity we have in Selwyn."

This year the awards were presented by Iport. The Council gratefully acknowledges all of our sponsors, without whom the awards would not be possible.

Overall category winners:

People’s Choice: Waitaha School

Arts, Culture and Heritage: Te Taumutu Rūnanga

Business Resilience: Global Bus Ventures (NZ) Ltd

Community Volunteering: CentreStage Rolleston

Diversity and Inclusion: Joshua Foundation

Environment and Sustainability: Global Bus Ventures (NZ) Ltd.

Sport Leadership: Selwyn Sports Trust

Startup Business: PLAY! Drama Workshops

Tourism: Ballooning Canterbury

Young Achievers: Paige Sullivan