The best of Edinburgh celebrated as the Forth Awards return

The Forth Awards, a night of celebrating the great and the good of Edinburgh and the East, came back with a bang, with the sold-out Usher Hall playing host to a night to remember.

Wet Wet Wet were on hand to surprise guests after the Forth Awards, alongside performances from award winners Tony Hadley and Heather Small.

The Forth Awards, which celebrate the best of Edinburgh and the East, returned on Thursday (23 June) after last year’s noticeable absence due to the lockdown measures.

In total, ten awards were handed out with local heroes and celebrities all part of the celebrations.

Local heroes, Keith Armour and Steven Carr were awarded Volunteer of the Year and Local Hero respectively, with both raising huge sums of money over the past two years for good causes.

Emma St. Clair won the coveted Teacher of the Year award, with Edinburgh Zoo picking up the Visitor Attraction of the Year award, following the first full year of allowing visitors into the park.

Elsewhere, Tony Hadley won the Forth Icon award after decades of working across the music industry, and Heather Small won The Forth Music Recognition award, with both performing to the crowd.

Joining the already star-studded line-up, The Eves and Vula took to the stage to perform their biggest hits.

The Forth Awards were, once again, a celebration of the best music and entertainment around, with the opportunity to hear inspiring stories from Forth’s local heroes. Whether simple acts of kindness by local teachers, or staggering amounts of money raised for life-altering charities, everyone had an afternoon to remember.

Richie Jeffrey, Head of Events said: “The Forth Awards are always a truly incredible and inspiring afternoon, with our return from a two-year hiatus made it extra special.

“From the unrivalled Usher Hall atmosphere, to our non-stop entertainment and moving stories from very worthy winners, it is with real pride that Radio Forth is able to support and reward people in our community in this way.”

Full list of winners on the night:

THE FORTH FRINGE AWARD WITH MULTREES WALK

Winner: DANIEL SLOSS

THE FORTH BEST ARTIST AWARD WITH VICTOR PARIS

Winner: CALLUM BEATTIE

THE FORTH ICON AWARD WITH THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

Winner: TONY HADLEY

THE FORTH MUSIC RECOGNITION AWARD WITH THE LIQUID ROOMS

WinnerHEATHER SMALL

THE FORTH BEST RESTAURANT AWARD WITH HERITAGE PORTFOLIO

Winner: PRANA INDIAN GRILL

THE FORTH CHARITY VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR WITH NEWTOWN REFURBISHMENTS

Winner:  KEITH ARMOUR

THE FORTH CASH FOR KIDS AWARD WITH NEWTOWN DECOR

Winner:  PAUL HUNTER

THE FORTH VISTOR ATTRACTION AWARD WITH MEDIA WORKS

Winner: EDINBURGH ZOO

LOCAL HERO AWARD WITH EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS

STEVEN CARR

As the founder and chairman of Dnipro Kids, Steven has put his business and family life on hold to help evacuate 50 orphans and their house parents from the war in Ukraine, and found them a safe haven in Scotland.

Steven has been chairperson and founder of Dnipro kids charity since 2005 when he and a group of Hibs supporters visited local orphanages in the city of Dnipropetrovesk at the time Hibs played a UEFA cup tie in the city. Steven built a strong relationship with the orphanages, and this was the founding of Dnipro kids.

Since then, he has visited 25-30 times once or twice a year to take donations over and to help out in any way he can. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine Steven has taken it upon himself to travel to the country in order to help evacuate orphans from a number of Dnipro orphanages to the safety of Poland and in due course hopefully to settle in the UK.

THE FORTH BEST TEACHER AWARD WITH FUSE

EMMA ST CLAIR 

Emma is the teacher all the children at Colinton Primary School want . At 62 years of age, she has worked at the school since graduation. She encourages by example, has an incredible way of building confidence and always makes learning fun.

Throughout her career, Emma has been the ‘soil’ to the children she teaches where she has nourished, nurtured and protected them as well as feeding them with the knowledge and skills they need to survive in life. She is well-thought of by the whole-school community

One of the entries said ‘She is a phenomenal person who loves the job she does and the kids love her in return.’

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davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer