Inverclyde

In the ICA Awards in 2013, Bert was named Community Volunteer of the Year for a lengthy and committed 15 years of voluntary service to the Inverclyde Peace Initiative. The Initiative has long worked to resolve conflict in schools, and Bert was a founding member of this organisation, working since their inception until his retirement last year at the age of 77. He’s a father and grandfather who is a shining example of how much one person can achieve for their community.

Fraser and his brother Lewis (another QBR nominee) were both born profoundly deaf. Like his brother, Fraser had to have a cochlear implant at three years old, and has faced many challenges in life already. Due to intense work to improve his speech, Fraser went to primary school with no speech, and left primary seven a very confident young orator. Alongside Lewis, he loves swimming, and swims for mainstream and disability clubs, as well as the GB Deaf Team.

With his twin brother Fraser, Lewis was born profoundly deaf and had to receive cochlear implants. Both brothers have been nominated to carry the Queen’s Baton. They both have had to work extremely hard on their speech and overcome many obstacles. Both brothers adore swimming, swim for the local disability and amateur teams (Glasgow and Stirling) and plan to take part in the Deaf Olympics in 2017. Their nominees say both put their heart and soul into training.

Alexander was interested in sport at an early age, commencing training for judo and weightlifting whilst in high school. He competed in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand and claimed the British record in weightlifting for the 52kg weight class, a record that he has still held onto nearly 25 years later.

Ever since his son Damian was tragically stabbed to death six years ago, John has vehemently run a major anti-knife campaign, taking his message to youth groups and schools across Inverclyde and further afield in attempts to make his community and country a safer place to live. He has been recognised by the Scottish Government for his tireless work and is not only something of a local hero, but is a widely-respected figure across the country too.

Being wounded in World War Two, James was told he’d never walk again, let alone play sport. He didn’t listen. Instead, he persevered with training and physical improvement and has been coaching since the 1950s. He was instrumental in setting up junior and school Badminton, and continued as a coach educator and group coach-cum-treasurer for the South West division of badminton body SBU until he retired at age 80.