Community heroes awarded at ceremony

A woman who supports survivors of domestic abuse was one of the eight community heroes honoured at BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Make a Difference Awards 2025.

Caroline Deeprose, from St Neots, said she made it her mission to "be a voice for those who have lost theirs".

An awards ceremony was held at Cambridge Junction on Friday night.

Ms Deeprose is co-founder and chief executive of The Angel Foundation, which supports women and their children fleeing abuse.

"Helping women and their families, and turning a house into a safety blanket for them, is what motivates me," she explained.

"As a mother-of-three, I couldn't even imagine how hard that must have been, to start your whole life again with nothing."

Aiming to create a safe space where teenagers could hang out all year round, a group of more than 30 volunteers designed and built Cam Skate.

Since opening at The Warehouse in Cambridge in October 2024, more than 2,000 people have visited.

It hosts dedicated over-30s and under-10s sessions, and hours especially for people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

"The energy is infectious with a collective drive to make something work," said the group, in a statement.

Seven-year-old Xander once found simple trips out of the house stressful due to his complex health and developmental needs.

His family said they tried everything to keep him safe on outings but found it almost impossible until Spot, a specially trained autism assistance dog, joined the family.

"He is such an intelligent dog; he knows what Xander needs. We are a team. We couldn't imagine life without Spot," said Natasha, Xander's mum.

A group of volunteers raised £50,000 for a cafe, community centre and library.

Retired science teacher Mo Child chairs the Cherry Hinton Community Benefit Society, which was set up 12 years ago.

"Our aim is to be there for what people in Cherry Hinton want," she said.

For more than 15 years, Sue and Pete Woolfitt, from Peterborough, have raised more than £144,000 for the Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice.

The pair, who have been married for 55 years, volunteered more than 3,000 hours of their time to do more than 300 bucket collections.

"We both come from working class families and know it can be hard for people. We grew up to believe you shared what you had," said 74-year-old Ms Woolfitt.

"Over the years it's got harder - with the cost of living - we've noticed people still give but less money."

They added: "We get a tremendous kick. Any penny we collect is more than the charity had before we did it.

"We get a buzz knowing we're doing good."

Motivated by her own experience as a parent of a Send child, Deanne Weise from Peterborough created a group to reduce isolation and advise parents.

She has supported 300 families, helping them access support, complete vital forms, as well as feel understood.

"When you have a Send child it's exhausting and it's good to have someone who understands that without judgement," she said.

"I was sick of being isolated and having no-one to talk to... sick of searching the internet, so I thought I'd start a group."

FROG (Friends of the River Granta) was set up in Linton in 2019 to protect a rare chalk stream by litter picking, restoring habitats and improving biodiversity.

Co-chairwoman of the group Helen Brookes said she wanted to change how people viewed nature.

"One of the reasons I started FROG was because I'm a parent. I wanted to pass on the right principles and way of living to my child and encourage him to enjoy nature for what it is and see the value in it... because a lot of people don't."

Through selling her artwork and sponsored sporting challenges, eight-year-old Saphia has raised almost £2,000 for food banks.

Last Christmas, she filled five trollies with essentials for families.

"I saw someone was in the street with a sign – they were asking for food... I wanted to make money and go to Tesco so they can get food and not get ill," Saphia said.

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