Some absolutely amazing news this month, was that Shane Richardson has been awarded a Lord Mayors Medal. The Unsung Hero award is given out to those who serve the people of Bristol through voluntary and community work, or for charitable acts of work.

This is award, in the opinion of Judy Gowenlock of Your Park "for the incredible work he has lead on in Spacemakers, and the ripple effect this has had – inspiring people around him to step up and take action in local green spaces."

Judy goes on to that that "his generosity with his time, the patient and genuine way that he facilitates community meetings… its been nothing short of amazing to see how he has brought people together."

Shane was asked for his thoughts on the award, having not known of his nomination until he'd recieved the letter, and he said "I am absolutely over the moon to be awarded with such an amazing medal - and am very much looking forward to the event." He went to to say "I couldnt have done this without the support of so many people - especially Hayley Swift (Community Development Practitioner for Parks and Green Spaces), Steve Clampin (Bristol City Council Parks) and so many others who have guided me through the process."

Having started Spacemakers social media accounts as a bit of a joke initially, Shane explained that "this started as some dad jokes, to try and see if some small aspects of the park could be recitifed. What has happened is, so many people have got behind the jokes, enjoyed them, laughed at them and noticed that I was infact onto something. After various discussions with upwards of 15 people from different background and organisations, we have been having regular meetings on how we can make an impact on the loca area."

Spacemakers was the springboard to getting so many people, with common goals, together. It had made a community start to think about what they want to achieve for the local area. The award is testiment to the amazing community we all live in, and we should be getting behind eachother - and together achieving something truely spectacular for our local area.