And here are the winners..........

MAN OF THE YEAR

Winner: Grenville Jones

A truly deserving winner, Grenville has had a remarkable 12 months. Grenville has done wonderful work with the Golden-Oldies and has also established himself as a star of stage and screen after leading the increasingly impressive City of Bath Male Choir to a top-five slot in BBC1’s Last Choir Standing programme.

Runners-up

Alex Timms

The ever enthusiastic Alex can rightfully claim to be putting a smile on the face of the city by preparing to launch the first Bath Comedy Festival.

Andrew Cooper

As the new city centre manager for Bath, Andrew has already made great strides in bringing people together to boost the city.

John McLay

For the second year running, the Bath Children’s Literature Festival has been a huge success and John deserves great credit for the work he puts in to make it happen.

Henry Brown

As the co-founder of the Better Bath Forum, Henry has elevated the level of debate in the city to new heights.

Tim Ball

A hard-working Mayor of Bath who has combined his extensive civic duties with his ongoing work in his native Twerton. A man who truly loves representing his city.

David Bellotti

He has brought real qualities to the role of the Chairman of Bath and North East Somerset. He is an intelligent, engaging and highly credible chairman.

James Whitehead

James put his heart and soul into launching the Bath Dance Festival, bringing some of the business’s biggest names to Bath, including Strictly Come Dancing’s Darren and Lilia.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Winner: Gitte Dawson

The woman who brought the pigs to the city. Gitte was the driving force behind the spectacularly successful King Bladud’s project.

Runners-up:

Alice Evans

As well as being an ambassador of the women’s business community, Alice has cheered us all by being part of the Stocking Tops group.

Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst

A ubiquitous force for good, Loraine has again played a real part in the day-to-day life of the city.

Gill McLay

Along with husband John, Gill has helped turn the Bath Children’s Literature Festival into one of the city’s most enjoyable events.

Jane Brown

The Better Bath Forum has produced a number of excellent city debates and co-founder Jane deserves credit.

Marion McNeir

An effective politician and community worker, Marian is a passionate advocate of (and for) the community.

Sharon Ball

First as mayor and now as the mayor’s right-hand woman, Cllr Ball has worked hard all year and worn her civic chains with dignity.

Julie Peacock

A driving force behind many city-wide concerns, Julie’s enthusiasm and dedication has yielded many positive results.

YOUNG PERSON OF THE YEAR

Winner: Charlie McDonnell

While most teenagers celebrate their 18th birthdays with a pub crawl, Beechen Cliff student Charlie McDonnell raised more than £4,000 for charity by shaving his head live on the internet. He became an overnight global sensation last year when his short home-made comedy videos were viewed by hundreds of thousands of people across the world via YouTube. Since then Charlie, who lives in Combe Down, has used his new-found ‘fame’ to raise money for numerous charities through his internet antics.

Runners-up:

Jack Osborne

Bath’s very own Billy Elliot, eight-year-old Jack, from Southdown, has a passion for dancing which has seen him accepted for the Royal Ballet’s junior associate scheme.

Anya Shrubsole

It has been a big year for 17-year-old cricketer Anya, who made her international debut for the England women’s team this summer and was named the most promising young women’s cricketer by The Cricket Society.

Oliver Davidson

The 10-year-old from Peasedown St John showed maturity beyond his years when he wrote a heartfelt letter to the parish council, appealing for it to do something about yobs making the village a misery.

POLITICIAN OF THE YEAR

Winner: Nicholas Coombes

At a time when politics is treated with scepticism at best and outright hostility at worst by many young people, 22-year old Nicholas Coombes has made a fantastic start to his political career. Elected to B&NES Council as a student, he has gone on to show that he understands the concerns of all his constituents of all ages and he has proven that young people can have an effective voice in local politics.

We think there is an MP in the making here and he fully deserves our accolade.

Runners-up:

Francine Haeberling

She has shown considerable courage in 2008 in taking on some difficult decisions and fighting her corner well as leader of B&NES Council.

Don Foster

Another busy year for Bath’s highly popular Liberal Democrat MP who has shown himself again to be a major asset to the city.

Terry Gazzard

A hard-working local politician who understands Bath well and argues his case with real enthusiasm.

Nathan Hartley

Another impressive young councillor who has done tremendous work in his native Peasedown St John.

Fabian Richter

Fast becoming a genuine contender for the Bath electoral seat, he is the embodiment of David Cameron’s new Conservatives.

Ian Gilchrist

A strong campaigner who cares about his patch and cares about the city.

THEATRE SHOW

Winner: His Dark Materials

The Theatre Royal’s Young People’s Theatre performed the National Theatre’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s play in April to packed houses in the main auditorium.

Runners-up:

Festen

A difficult play about child abuse was performed with sensitivity by Next Stage Theatre Company at the Mission Theatre in July.

Cabaret

Cabaret brought 1930s Nazi Germany alive on the stage of the Theatre Royal in a fine adaptation.

The Portrait Of A Lady

Henry James said The Portrait Of A Lady could not successfully be produced for the stage. Peter Hall proved him wrong as part of his Bath season.

Blackbird

Blackbird, by Scottish playwright David Harrower, was performed at the Theatre Royal – inspired in part by the crimes of a sex offender and depicting a meeting between a young woman and a middle-aged man with whom, 15 years earlier, at the age of 12, she had a relationship.

The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps played at the Theatre Royal. Directed by Maria Aitken, it was an excellent adaptation of John Buchan’s novel.

The Year Of Magical Thinking

The Year Of Magical Thinking at the Theatre Royal starred Vanessa Redgrave. It came to Bath direct from its UK premiere at the National Theatre.

Waves

The National Theatre’s stage production of Virginia Woolf’s novel Waves came to the Theatre Royal in October, describing the turbulent journey from childhood to death.

England

The Victoria Art Gallery was an unusual venue for this play exploring the value of art and relationships.

Enjoy

Enjoy was part of this year’s Bath Peter Hall Season – and an impressive revival of an early, rather dark comedy by Alan Bennett

Lady In Black

Lady In Black is Susan Hill’s chilling ghost story that returns to the Theatre Royal time after time.

BAND OF THE YEAR

Winner: The Volt

The Volt were winners of the MTV Get Seen Get Heard talent search in June. Almost 200,000 votes were originally cast when MTV UK asked bands and musicians all over the country to upload videos of their live performances from last year’s

Oxjam festival to be voted for. From thousands of entries three acts were chosen to appear on an event shown on MTV. The three acts performed live in front of judges including Ross Millard from The Futureheads, and Billy Lunn from The Subways, alongside music industry experts Sarah Adams, Alex Gilbert and Stephen Budd, who selected the overall winner. The Volt won and recorded a Spanking New Session for MTV UK. The Volt were also named runners-up in the Live And Unsigned Award category of the prestigious Vodafone Live Music Awards in September.

Runners-up

Trigger The Bloodshed

Extreme metallers have had an amazing year – they released their debut album through Rising Records which received widespread recognition and rave reviews in the national rock press. They also played Download Festival’s Gibson Stage and have supported numerous big-name metal acts including Bullet For My Valentine.

You Love Her Cos She’s Dead

This band won the award for Best Electronica Act in the prestigious INDY Music Awards at London’s Forum. There were 120,000 nominated bands from the UK.

More Than Life

Simply because these local hardcore heroes are destined to be massive – take a listen to their six-track Brave Enough To Fail

EP released this year if you don’t believe us.

The Alfonz

This talented trio won the Moles Under-18 Battle of the Bands (which was a special collaboration between Moles and The Bath Chronicle). So good they left a lasting impression on guest judge and editor Sam Holliday, who said: “This fantastic trio had a wonderful pop sensibility which meant I found myself humming one of their tunes much later on in the day and wondering where the hell I had heard it!”

The Fallen

A budding four-piece who play metal and punk with a twist. They have been interviewed for an article in The Independent newspaper, which was predicting the big rock bands of tomorrow. Oh, and they feature the son of The Bath Chronicle editor (Oli Holliday) on bass.

ARTS PERSON OF THE YEAR

Winner: Ann Garner

Ann founded the Next Stage Theatre Company 15 years ago to present plays not normally tackled by amateurs. She was the driving force behind the company taking over what has now become the hugely successful Mission Theatre in Bath, took the group to New York this year and secured a date in London’s West End to mark its 15th birthday.

Runners-up:

Sarah LeFanu

Writer Sarah LeFanu is artistic director of Bath Literature Festival which had another great year. She will be stepping down after the 2009 event.

Joanna MacGregor

International pianist Joanna MacGregor, famous for her dedication to crossover music, successfully led the Bath International Music Festival to more acclaim in 2008.

Sir Peter Hall

Director Sir Peter Hall again staged an excellent season at the Theatre Royal.

Grenville Jones

The man who “teaches Bath to sing”

Robert Topping

Robert Topping, the founder of independent bookseller Topping & Company, brought a myriad of literary stars to Bath in 2008.

Alan Dun

Sculptor Alan Dun corhelped create the famous Bath pigs. The Limpley Stoke resident helped bring Bath alive in the summer and also completed a bust of the 110-year-old First World War veteran Harry Patch.

John and Gill McLay

The McLays ran – for the second year – a superb Bath Children’s Literature Festival.

Clare Teal

Clare Teal, who once worked for The Bath Chronicle, has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest ever recording-deal by a British jazz singer.

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Paul Mattausch-Burrows

Twerton Infants School head Paul Mattausch-Burrows has been the inspiration behind a campaign to encourage families to both eat and live more healthily. He has been pulling out all the stops to encourage pupils to live a healthy lifestyle. He has turned the school into a grow-it, cook-it, eat-it building by installing a greenhouse, and wormery, pupils have been learning how to grow gardens in a bag, and a new community centre has been built for parents to learn new skills.

Runners-up

Louise Flynn has once again been one of the driving forces at St Stephen’s School, Lansdown. As ever, she led the end-of-year musical.

Sean Wyartt

The acting headteacher’s overwhelming passion and drive for improving Culverhay School has seen his pupils make some of the best progress at GCSE level in the country.

SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR

Winner: Bath Rugby

It has been a year to remember for Bath Rugby, which ended a decade-long wait for silverware with May’s European Challenge Cup triumph. Playing a brand of enthralling rugby, the Blue, Black and Whites challenged strongly for the Guinness Premiership title last season, finishing third, and are currently top, thanks to a series of thrilling victories.

Runners-up

TeamBath FC

Promoted to the second tier of non-league football for the first time in their nine-year history via the Southern Premier Division play-offs and reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the third time in six years.

Larkhall Athletic FC

Lost only three league matches in the calendar year, missing out on promotion to Toolstation Premier Division on goal difference last term. The Larks have blasted 73 goals in only 18 league matches this season and this month reached the last 32 of the FA Vase for the first time.

Avonvale RFC

After years of struggle, reeled off 18 wins out of 18 to lift the Dorset & Wilts 3 West title in the spring and lie second in the 2 North

table this season. Vale suffered only one league defeat in the calendar year.

Bath Cricket Club 1st XI

Regained the West of England Premier League title, their fifth regional championship in seven seasons, and were beaten only once in 18 matches to finish well clear of the rest.

Bath City skittles team

Won the coveted Blackthorn British Skittles Championship title at Sand Bay, Weston-super-Mare in September.

SPORTS PERSON OF THE YEAR

Winner: Ben Rushgrove

The sprinter overcame a foot injury to win a silver medal in the T36 100m on his Paralympics debut in Beijing. Based at the University of Bath, Rushgrove has cerebral palsy and is profoundly deaf. An inspiration for many youngsters in the city owing to his countless visits to schools and clubs.

Runners-up:

Steve Meehan

Restored Bath Rugby’s tradition as the most attractive rugby-playing side in the country – and arguably Europe – and became the first head coach in 10 years to deliver a trophy to the Rec. Has made some astute signings and convinced big-name players like Butch James to commit to his vision for the future.

Jim Rollo

The Bath City captain reached the 300-appearance milestone and was named players’ player of the year as his side just missed out on a Blue Square South play-off place.

Mark Foster

University of Bath Swimming Club member led Team GB into a record-breaking Olympic performance when he carried the Union Flag at the opening ceremony in Beijing. Qualified for his fifth Games at the grand old age of 38.

Heather Fell

Part of the University of Bath-based PentathlonGB programme, continued British women’s run of success in modern pentathlon at the Olympics with a silver medal in Beijing.

Anya Shrubsole

Bath Cricket Club’s 17-year-old made one-day international and Twenty20 debuts for full England team and was awarded Most Promising Young Women’s Cricketer Award 2008 by The Cricket Society.

Francesca Fox

City of Bath Rhythmic Gymnastics Club member, 16, was crowned youngest national senior champion for many years.

Judd Trump

The Keynsham teenager soared up to 27th place in the provisional world snooker rankings and beat world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan on his way to the Grand Prix semi-finals.

Butch James

The World Cup winner has proved a real talisman for Bath Rugby. Signed a new three-year deal in October and scored the last-gasp try that sank Leicester in dramatic fashion.

Martin Paul

The striker passed Paul Randall’s mark of 112 Bath City goals to become the club’s leading scorer of modern times.

COMMUNITY WORKER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst

Loraine is one of the city’s best known and loved ambassadors. As well as having her own business and being involved in politics, she works for a myriad of charities and local causes and has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for her community. She loves B&NES and has done everything in her power to promote the area locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally. All this with being mother to six children!

Runners-up

Peter Finnigan

A very close runner-up, the 85-year-old, from Corston, who has entered TV’s Britain’s Got Talent, is still tap dancing and runs a group which performs at old folks’ homes. He is vice-chairman of two ex-service personnel associations and a fundraiser for prostate cancer research after undergoing his own battle.

Barry Cruse

Mr Oldfield Park. The hair stylist has just stepped down from the Moorland Road Association, which he founded, but remains chairman of the Bath in Bloom committee.

Alex Schlesinger

A strong defender of the London Road area, chairing the partnership which aims to revive the district’s fortunes.

CHARITY WORKER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Dan Biggane

We make no apology for choosing one of our ‘own’ to win the award. Dan, one of our feature writers with a particular interest in the local rock scene, has over the past 12 months arranged a series of high-profile concerts to raise money for Myeloma UK, a small but vital cancer charity. Dan lost his mum to the disease and was determined to raise awareness of the illness (and funds to help fight it) and organised concerts featuring music as varied as punk and classical. His efforts have yielded £10,000 and helped many people understand the disease. A worthy winner.

Runners-up

Bill and Val Huxley

An enthusiastic couple who raise funds for the Robin Hood Ministries which helps needy families in Eastern Europe.

George Harding

This year the grandfather completed his latest fundraising mission – a 140-mile trek through the Sahara. Mr Harding, who is in his 70s, undertook the odyssey in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support despite needing a new hip. In less than a decade he has raised tens of thousands of pounds for the charity by twice climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, walking the Great Wall of China, and running in the Bath Half and London Marathon.

Bel Mooney

Bel Mooney is president of the Space to Grow campaign to raise nearly £5 million for a new neo-natal intensive care unit at the Royal United Hospital. The city-based writer and columnist also recently launched homelessness charity Julian House’s new shop.

Cecil Weir

Cecil Weir is the fundraising manager of city homelessness charity Julian House, which is currently looking for £100,000. His work

brings him into contact with serious issues of human suffering, but his sense of humour and zest for life are infectious.

CAMPAIGNER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Susie Wright

When mum Susie Wright became concerned at overcrowding on the bus used by her daughter to get to and from Ralph Allen School, she decided something needed to be done. She and other parents in the same boat set up the Campaign to Improve Home-School Transport, collecting a petition and setting up a Facebook group to challenge Bath and North East Somerset Council over its support for public transport. She persuaded the council to launch a review of school bus services and to work with operator First on laying on more buses.

Runners-up

Peter Burns is a diligent campaigner against the Bus Rapid Transit scheme, who sends letters

to the Chronicle at least once a week eloquently putting forward his case.

If the BRT does happen, he will be able to look himself in the mirror and say: “At least I tried”.

Jo McCarron is effectively the leader of the Response2Route group fighting the BRT scheme and has mobilised hundreds of people in opposition while juggling family and business responsibilities.

Peter Downey and Richard Wright have set up the Real Friends of The Rec group to back Bath Rugby’s plans for a new stadium at the site. They now have nearly 3,000 members, with the name cocking a snook at the Friends of the Rec group which is opposed to development and is believed to have just a few members.

BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR

Winner: Martin Tracy

He has been a stalwart of independent business in Bath for the last 20 years. The ex-Royal Marine has won numerous awards for his own business The Framing Workshop in Walcot Street and has fought for the future of the city’s smaller traders. This year he saw the opportunity of the inaugural Bath Business Show and offered to represent more than 60 small businesses with a stall alongside international airlines, conference venues and recruitment agencies. He is a great believer in working together and self-promotion, and created the Walcot Street Business Association to encourage traders to work to each others’ strengths. Mr Tracy has also been a key boost to tourism in Bath with sponsorship of the Bath Festivals Box Office, and was one of the first businessmen to support the King Bladud’s Pigs project.

Runners-up:

Colin Skellett

Wessex Water chief executive Colin Skellett was instrumental in boosting business in Bath in 2008 with the creation of Future Bath Plus, a new company created with public and private funding to improve access to tourism and festivals, attract investment into the city and employ a city centre manager.

Eric Snook

After more than 50 years of business in Bath, Eric Snook is still one of the city’s most fervent campaigners for its status as a unique shopping destination.

BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR

Winner: Carol Spalding

Dealing with death may not be most people’s idea of a dream job. But funeral director Carol Spalding has become an inspiration to others in and around the city. She joined Clarksons Independent Funeral Directors in 2001 and bought the business four years later. In 2008 she was named businesswoman of the year by the Bath Business Women’s Association, and Most Inspirational Woman in Business. She prides herself on taking a hands-on role and was unable to stay to pick up her second award as she was looking after a funeral.

Runners-up:

Rachel Lilley has seen her floristry business blossom after moving to larger premises in Walcot Street and featuring in a national book of top flower shops.

Angela Ladd has chaired the Bath branch of the Federation of Small Businesses for the last three years and in 2008 helped honour nine of Bath’s best independent traders with the first FSB business awards ceremony in the city.

Emma Summers celebrated 10 years of business this year after building up Juice Recruitment from a single home computer in Bath to a firm with four offices.

Julie Cooper, events organiser, has been a driving force behind ceremonies to recognise business in Bath from the FSB awards ceremony to the Bath Business Women’s Association awards.

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

Winner: Great Western Wine

Philip Addis built Great Western Wine from an idea on the back of a Post-it note into a multi-million pound success story, and celebrated 25 years in business in 2008. The firm, based at Wells Road, has a staff of 30 and annual growth of between 10 and 15 per cent.

Runners-up:

Komedia

The live entertainment group breathed new life into the old Beau Nash cinema by converting it into a performance venue.

Moles

Synonymous with live music in Bath, the club founded by Phil Andrews celebrated 30 years of business after launching the venue on a shoestring budget on New Year’s Eve, 1978.

Bath Farmers’ Market

The market at Green Park Station was one of the first of its kind in the country and, despite a rocky start to the year and the collapse of the Green Park Station venue management firm Envolve, the market is one of the city’s most popular weekly fixtures.

Juice Recruitment

Founder Emma Summers launched the business in 1998 and now employs more than 20 staff in Bath, Bristol, Swindon and Cheltenham.

Wessex Water

The firm has had a major impact on Bath this year with CEO Colin Skellett chairing Future Bath Plus, and the firm winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

The L&R Group

Developers Sarah Mansfield and Ken Elliott breathed new life into the former Shires Yard with the opening of Jamie’s Italian, the flagship in a chain of restaurants from Jamie Oliver, as well as 26 shops and a further three restaurants in the complex now called Milsom Place.

EVENT/EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR

Winner: King Bladud's Pigs Project

They say pigs might fly and this year they did all around Bath. Gitte Dawson hatched the plan to place pig statues as part of a public arts project to commemorate Bath’s founding father. The 100 pigs raised more than £200,000 for the Two Tunnels project when they were auctioned off.

Runners-up:

Marilyn Monroe

Fans flocked to the Fashion Museum to see the exhibition Travilla – the man who dressed Monroe – which included the White Dress from The Seven Year Itch.

Bath in Bloom

Each year the competition, organised by Barry Cruse, attracts more than 200 entries and brightens up Bath.

Bath as it might have been

Fascinating – the exhibition at Victoria Art Gallery showed how we could have had a Roman-style ‘forum’ by the abbey, or a dual carriageway through central Bath had earlier planners had their way.

Landscapes/Pastoral Visions

This two-partner explored the Romantic response to the British landscape from Samuel Palmer and William Blake, through to the Brotherhood of Ruralists founded by Peter Blake at Wellow.

Peter Lanyon

Myths and magic – there’s just time to catch the murals of Cornish artist and former Bath Academy of Art teacher in the exhibition Porthmeor: A Peter Lanyon Mural rediscovered, at the VAG until January 4.

Taste of Bath

Fabulous festival for foodies in Royal Victoria Park enjoyed its second year celebrating regional cooking and food.

NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

The Bath Chronicle

OK, we couldn’t resist it because this has been the most successful year in our paper’s history in terms of outside recognition.

We took the title of Newspaper of the Year at the Newspaper Society Weekly Newspaper Awards in November after first winning the award for the South West. We also came second in the Regional Newspaper of the Year section of the society’s Circulation, Editorial and Promotion Awards, and won the award for best designed paper in the regional press. The Chronicle was also named Best Paid for Weekly Newspaper in the South West at the EDF Regional Media Awards, and shortlisted as Weekly Newspaper of the Year in the Press Gazette’s Regional Press Awards.

UNSUNG HERO

Winner: Mike Whitaker

Mike has to be the most popular bus driver in the city. The First Group employee, from Radstock, currently works on the Odd Down Park-and-Ride service and brings daily cheer to his passengers. In a letter to the Chronicle in 2007, he said: “Politeness, kind words and a smile can make a positive difference to everyone’s day. What better reason to go to work?”