Following a meeting of judges this week, the Rotary Club of Helensburgh Garelochside can now unveil the list of nominees who made the cut.

The shortlist features several finalists for each of the six categories including: Citizen of the Year; Musician of the Year; Sports Person of the Year; Young Citizen of the Year; Achiever through Adversity of the Year; and Unsung Hero of the Year. There is a local sponsor for the award trophy for each category.

Rotarian John Laverty said: “Last Friday brought to a close the nomination phase of the Community Spirit Awards with well over a hundred nominations for the six categories.

“The judges were drawn from local business sponsoring the event, members of the community, the Advertiser and Rotarians met on Monday night to consider who should be finalists and winners.

“First of all, they were delighted at the response and the quality of the nominations, making it very difficult in many cases to differentiate between the various nominations. We wish to thank the public for such a great response and the high quality of their nominations.” The final of the community event will be held in the Victoria Halls on Monday, April 28 at 7.30pm.

The evening will be a gala occasion with Your Radio covering and conducting events and celebrity guest Walter Smith will present the trophies and awards with Mary Horswell the instigator of the event hosting.

Local schools will also attend on the night to provide some muscial entertainment to the nominees and judges.

Mr Laverty added: “It promises to be a great night for all the finalists and their invited guests and we look forward to celebrating the wealth of talent and community spirit that makes our town and area such a special place in which to live work and play.” The finalists: Alison Gildea Tam Ward Stewart Maule Robert Mair David Mckillop Jonny Clipston Jamie Johnston Martin Caldwell Lucy Elliott Euan Kick Steve Losh Michael Curley Stewart Noble Emma Little Leon Semple Euan Forrest Cameron Roy Steven Thompson Devin Baines Kirsty Orr Roisin Slader Elizabeth Applequist Abbie Johnston Eleanor Grant Matthew Todd