THERE are just over two weeks until the South Wales Argus Health and Care Awards take place at Chepstow Racecourse.

Television presenter, GP and author Dr Hilary Jones will host our special awards presentation event at the racecourse on October 19.

We will be featuring the finalists in upcoming editions of the Argus before the big day.

One of the 15 award categories that will be awarded on the night is the Healthy Neighbourhood Award which is sponsored by family-run hearing health business Malmo Hearing.

The company, whose services include free hearing assessments, tinnitus advice and hearing protection and hearing-aid servicing and repairs, was established in 2007 and have branches in Newport and Bridgend.

Practice manager in Rachael Barnett said she believed the award, which recognises communities working together to support people’s health, tied in well with the Malmo Hearing’s work.

She added awards were important to help hard-working doctors and other health workers get recognition for their tireless work improving people’s lives.

“Awards like this help people who often aren’t recognised get recognition and raise awareness of how much people do,” she said.

“Doctors aren’t always recognised when they go above and beyond to make a real difference to people’s lives.

“But the reports we get back from people about how we have changed their lives are so rewarding.”

The Healthy Neighbourhood Award aims to recognise an area of Gwent where the community are working hard together to support the health of local people.

There are three finalists in the running for the award.

The #ifyougoigo campaign by Torfaen Sports Development gets women and girls from across Torfaen active through sports, fitness, and community fitness classes.

The campaign runs a 10 week programme in partnership with Torfaen Leisure Trust to support women becoming active.

They are now running a Blaenavon Community Hub, working with #DoItYourWay to get ladies more active in their area.

Another finalist are the directors of Cwmbran ParkRun. Every week they manage the social media, deal with emails, recruit volunteers each week, train and manage those volunteers, set out the course signage, maintain and charge equipment and assess the safety of the route. Every week they litter pick the finish area. They make important decisions to ensure the safety of parkrunners such as cancelling the run if the route is icy.

The Run Directors take responsibility for the run as a whole and the final decision rests with them. They are the key leaders who have led, supported and enabled the ParkRun to exist.

Sport in the Park is a series of events created by the Newport Live's Sports Development teams.

It is a series of family outdoor engagement events designed to get children and parents playing together, being active outdoors, having fun, and learning more about what is on offer all year round in Newport.

The team work together, engaging, local communities, national governing bodies, staff and a number of volunteers to ensure families are encouraged to become active, and providing a fantastic array of sports and physical activities to enable children of all ages the opportunity to try them and prove how much fun it can be to be active.

The winner of the award will be announced at the presentation event

To find out more about the awards visit southwalesargus.co.uk/healthandcareawards/news.