THE Pride of St Helens awards are to take place this Friday night in a celebration of the borough's community heroes.

There will be prizes awarded in 11 categories on the night at Saints' stadium.

Here are the three nominees for the Imperial Bar & Terrace Arts award:

 

Lost Castles Project

THE Lost Castles project saw a 10th Century Stuttgart castle recreated outside the town hall to help commemorate the borough's 70th anniversary of its groundbreaking partnership with the German city.

Volunteers took time out to make the cardboard construction over a weekend, which was 16 metres high.

The linkage between St Helens and Stuttgart was the first such arrangement in Europe following the end of the Second World War.

The castle stood in Victoria Square until Sunday, when it was dismantled, with the cardboard then taken away to be recycled.

St Helens Council’s cabinet member for better health and building arts and culture, Cllr Gill Neal said: “This type of cultural event is one that communities will be talking about for years to come.

"Heritage is a big part of what we’re doing for St Helens 150, and a key element of this is our historic partnership with the German town of Stuttgart."

 

CloneFest

SHERDLEY Park was rocking in the summer as the Clone Roses celebrated 20 years of performing with a sold-out festival.

Four thousand people attended as the respected Stones Roses tribute, from St Helens, made a big return to their hometown in July with Clonefest.

And the scale and quality of the event was hugely impressive.

The St Helens group includes frontman Gav Scott, brother Tony Scott, Mike Bagshaw and Phil Bennett.

The band has enjoyed success touring across the country over the years – but they have always kept their links with their hometown, having been a regular fixture at the Citadel.

CloneFest also saw crowds enjoy a host a number of other tribute bands from the Manchester scene.

Manchester DJ Clint Boon was spinning the decks along with the Clones’ long-time friend, the DJ and host, Dave Sweetmore.

Clones frontman Gav Scott said that the group had been “blown away” by the response which CloneFest received from the enormous crowd it attracted – and he hailed the event as a massive success.

 

Carley Stenson

CARLEY Stenson has enjoyed a host of roles on the West End stage over the years.

And most recently she wowed audiences in the role of Fantine in Les Miserables.

The Billinge-born actress has loved performing since she was a child.

Now, 36, she is best known on screen for playing Steph Cunningham in soap Hollyoaks between 2000 and 2011. But it is on the stage where she has had the greatest success, enjoying West End roles as Princess Fiona in Shrek: The Musical; Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical and as The Lady of The Lake in Spamalot.

Carley said: “I’ve been blessed to have a supportive family around me helping reach my goals. But if you haven’t then go out there and find like-minded people who can be there for you while you are there for them.

“This was all I ever wanted to do and I visualised it and ran towards it, so when I’ve had down days – and those came with not getting jobs many times – I asked myself what makes me happy other than this? I have back up plans but theatre is my dream.”