Joan Hunt awards highlight the contribution of foreign residents in Malaga province

There are more than 300,000 foreign residents in the province of Malaga who make up 17 per cent of the local population. Among them, therefore it comes as no surprise that there are inspirational and committed groups and individuals who make an invaluable contribution to the local community.

One of the most inspirational of them all was the late Joan Hunt, who founded the palliative care hospice organisation Cudeca that has supported and cared for people with terminal illnesses, adding life to their last days.

Joan's name lives on in the province of Malaga in many ways, one of them being the Joan Hunt awards given by the Diputación ( Malaga's provincial authority) and Cudeca to foreign-born residents who have made an important contribution to the local community.

On Monday the Edgar Neville theatre at the Diputación's headquarters in Malaga was the venue for the third edition of these awards at a gala, presented in Spanish and English, by Belén Martín and Anna Glowinski.

This year eight awards were presented, to journalist Lydia Cacho, Avisa hospital interpreters, Nerja Coffee Roasters, singer Suzette Moncrief, the Peña de Dinamarca football supporters group, the Finnish embassy and business owner Aprile Winterstein.

The president of the Diputación, Francisco Salado, said: "For some years now we were clear that we had to do something to give visibility to the foreigners who, like Joan Hunt, decide to leave their home countries and move to our province and start a new life, contributing their work and dedication at different levels."

"Thank you for making us better," he finished.

Salado also had words of gratitude for the hundreds of volunteers "disciples of Joan Hunt" who make the work of Cudeca possible.

The award in the Solidarity category went to Avisa, the association of volunteer interpreters who work at the Axarquía hospital and health centres. Collecting the award was British resident Christopher Cluderay, the current president of the organisation which has 29 volunteers providing an essential service for patients of different nationalities.

Cluderay stressed that he was collecting the award on behalf of all of his colleagues "past, present and future", adding that more volunteers are always welcome.

He said that the volunteers felt that their work was valued and appreciated and that they would not be able to do all they do without the support of the health workers and administrative staff at the hospital and health centres.

The Communication award went to Mexican journalist, social activist and writer Lydia Cacho who came to live in Malaga province two years ago. Cacho, who described herself as a "peace journalist", is specialised in covering high risk situations, often involving mafia organisations and violence against women and children. She has suffered attacks on her life and survived imprisonment and police torture due to her work which has taken her to 132 countries, receiving 67 awards.

"Joan Hunt understood empathy and taught us to build inner peace," she said, stating that she was "grateful to be able to call Spain my home".

In the Sabor a Málaga category, the Diputación selected the Nerja Coffee Roasters, founded by Irish woman Kerry Patten and her husband, for this year's award.

Nerja Coffee Roasters is a small firm that delivers freshly roasted organic coffee to customers through markets around the province of Malaga and sales online.

Picking up the award Patten said that she was "honoured" to receive the award and grateful for the life she is living with her family in Nerja with their coffee business.

In the Culture section the award went to singer Suzette Moncrief, originally from New York. “In love with Torremolinos, it was her mother who decided before she died that Malaga was the ideal place to live with her children and Suzette took this seriously," said Salado.

Suzette started as a dancer in 1982, was a model and started singing with the Lito Blues Band, as well as the Southern Cats, the Free Soul Band and The Blend Trio, performing versions of Blues, R&B, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Rock, and Classy Pop.

Before performing a bilingual version of Stand By Me, accompanied by Fran Llamas on piano, Moncrief, said, "Thank you Malaga, for so much love."

The prize in the Sports category went to the Peña de Dinamarca, the Malaga CF football supporters club that brings Danish fans to the Rosaleda stadium from the Costa del Sol.

The Diputación highlighted their involvement in the local community through their interest in the local football team as well as their charity work and donations to Cudeca..

The prize was collected by their president John Peter Sørensen, who explained that the club was started 15 years ago, just as a way of getting to the matches and decided to support Cudeca with donations.

The award for business went to Canadian-born Aprile Winterstein, who has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry on the Costa del Sol with a large multilingual staff.

Winterstein also founded the New Foreign Residents Association that helped teach English to underprivileged children in Malaga province, among other work.

The award for Diplomatic service went to the Finnish embassy and was collected by honorary consul Santiago Souvirón de la Macorra.

Salado praised the support given to the 5,000-strong Finnish community on the Costa del Sol, many resident in Fuengirola, for whom the services of the consulate are essential

Finally, the award for Municipal Initiative went to Gaucín town hall for the Art Gaucín project that involves mainly foreign residents.

The award was picked up by the mayor of Gaucín, Pedro Godino and Anne Razvi, councillor for foreigners and tourism, along with the president of Art Gaucín, collected the award.

The "spirit of collaboration" between the town hall and the residents is what makes the project successful said Razvi, explaining that 20 artists open their studios once a year as well as filling the streets with their art all year round.