DO you have remarkable neighbours?

Well, they could be in line for a prize after Co-op Insurance and Neighbourhood Watch officially opened nominations for their Neighbour of the Year Award 2019.

The awards aim to highlight the UK’s best neighbours.

Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural awards, Co-op and Neighbourhood Watch are looking once again for people to nominate their neighbours who go above and beyond to help their neighbourhood and surrounding community, to find the overall UK Neighbour of the Year 2019 alongside regional winners.

A panel of judges from Co-op and Neighbourhood Watch will be deciding both the national winner and regional winners of the award, which will crown someone the South West’s Neighbour of the Year 2019.

Caroline Hunter, head of home insurance at Co-op, said: “We’re really looking forward to seeing what the second year of this competition will bring.

“We know that people are doing great things as neighbours, and in their overall community, so we’re looking forward to hearing about these people and celebrating those neighbours who are doing things that are extra special in their community.”

Additionally, this year sees the introduction of a new category to crown someone the ‘2019 Community Spaces Champion’.

The new award will celebrate someone who has shown commitment to either save, improve, or use a local space for the good of their neighbours or overall community.

The ‘Community Space Champion’ comes as Co-op partners with charity, Locality, to launch an Endangered Spaces campaign to protect, support and improve 2,000 at-risk community spaces by 2022.

The Community Spaces Champion Award will be judged on how people have used a space in their local area to make a difference. This will be things such as setting up a sports match for neighbours at a local park; creating a community garden; setting up a support group in a community; or even helping to save a space from being shut down.

Rebecca Birkbeck, director community and shared value at Co-op, said: “Everything we do is rooted in our members and the communities we serve, and these awards encapsulate just that.

To see the range of entries we get this year will be fantastic; we expect these awards will show just how important a sense of community wellbeing is, and how spaces play such a crucial role in allowing people to come together to ensure happy and healthy communities.”

John Hayward-Cripps, CEO of Neighbourhood Watch Network, said: “With so much focus recently on what divides us, it’s good to be reminded of the ordinary people who make our nation great.

"The kind, every-day deeds of neighbours help create safe, secure and happy neighbourhoods where people, families and communities thrive. That’s something we can all unite behind.

"I look forward to seeing the nominations to be reminded just how wonderful people can be.”

Visit www.co-opinsurance.co.uk/hub/neighbour-of-the-year for more information and to access the nomination form.