Each year hundreds of businesses and individuals submit detailed nominations across 15 highly contested categories for This is Manchester Awards (TIMA) which span every aspect of what makes this region great!
The fifth Live TIMA will take place on 9th November 2023 – now located at Lancashire Cricket Club due to demand and the need to accommodate greater numbers of guests.
Created in partnership with the late presenter’s family and close friends, This Is Manchester Awards announce, The ‘Dianne Oxberry Special Impact Award’ officially launching on 4th May 2023 at a This Is Manchester friends, judges and brand partners event attended by Dianne’s husband, Ian Hindle and supporters of The Dianne Oxberry Trust. Other attendees include; TIMA hosts Jenny Powell and Scott Thomas, last year’s TIMA Supernova award winner Dr. Nighat Awan OBE and special guest speaker Nazir Afzal, former Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England.
Dianne, who was most famous in the region for her time on BBC North West Tonight, died in January 2019, just 10 days after her diagnosis of ovarian cancer. One of Dianne’s last public presenting engagements was at the inaugural TIMA awards in November 2018 and the organisers felt that now, five years into the TIMA programme, that the time was appropriate to approach the family to request permission to create a long-term legacy award in honour of Dianne’s memory. This new award will reward an individual from the region who embodies her incredible spirit, a reflection of all that Dianne stood for, her values, and her DNA. Organisers have used verbatim comments from friends and family to shape the new category.
The Dianne Oxberry Special Impact Award will recognise an individual that has faced adversity and won and, by doing so, has left a lasting legacy across the region.
Someone who had to work hard to achieve their goal, against all odds and through sheer graft and grit and as a result, has made a difference.
TIMA Founder, Ziara Siddique comments; “We were incredibly fortunate to have Dianne Oxberry present the very first awards alongside Roger Johnson back in 2018. Her passion for the city and, for the spirit of the awards was undeniable – now in our fifth year and established as an annual legacy event, the time feels right to recognise that early support and we’ve been incredibly humbled by the reaction we’ve received from her family and close friends in helping us shape this award.”
The new award announcement coincides with the first anniversary of the launch of the charity’s ‘Spread the W.O.R.D campaign which aims to raise awareness of some of the main symptoms of ovarian cancer. The Dianne Oxberry Trust is hyperlocal – its focus is in the North West, which was Dianne’s home, and it will this year be continuing its campaign to help improve early diagnosis of the disease in the hope that more families get more time together than Dianne’s did.
Dianne’s husband, Ian Hindle comments on behalf of the Trust; “Our goal is to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of this disease, to help improve speed of diagnosis, and hopefully lead to improved outcomes so more families have more time together than we had with Dianne. Our community is the key to this. We are normal people, members of the North West community, reaching out to others in the area. We can only shout loudly with the support of people in the North West – local people helping local people. The community in this region is amazing at pulling together and doing just that…and we can’t thank our supporters enough for helping us spread the word, and – most importantly – save lives. Our values align perfectly with that of the This is Manchester Awards and we were touched that they wanted to honour Dianne in this way.
Alongside businesses, organisations, charities, and individuals who are recognised across varies industry categories, each year a Supernova award is given to an individual who has gone above and beyond to support the region. Last year, Dr. Nighat Awan OBE, CEO of Shere Khan Group, was recognised for her charity work, specifically that which aims to support the young people, women, and disadvantaged groups in Greater Manchester. Previous winners of this prestigious award are John Roberts (AO.com), Fred Done (Bet Fred) and Marcus Rashford MBE.
As Founder Patrons, TIMA 23 will continue to support the most vulnerable young people in the region with its continued support of Hideout Youth Zones. HideOut has over 4500 members and continues to offer young people across Greater Manchester with somewhere to go, something to do, and someone to talk to seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Nominations close on Friday 1st September 2023.
For more information, please visit www.thisismanchesterawards.com
