It is a chance to recognise everyday heroes and the people in our communities who go above and beyond.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: The judges for the Stars of Norfolk and Waveney Awards. Picture: Victoria PertusaThe judges for the Stars of Norfolk and Waveney Awards. Picture: Victoria Pertusa (Image: Archant)

And the judges who came together to sift through the nominations for the EDP Stars of Norfolk and Waveney Awards certainly found it a tough task to whittle down the many inspiring and moving entries to come up with a final shortlist.

Joshua Hopkins, of The Hopkins Charitable Fund, said: "It was an honour to be part of the judging panel.

"Some of the stories about the nominees were truly inspirational and it was incredibly difficult to choose the winners as they were all worthy of recognition.

"There are so many fantastic initiatives in our area, many of them run by volunteers and other unsung heroes.

"I'm very much looking forward to the awards evening, it's in a fantastic venue and it will be a great chance for all the winners and nominees to celebrate their achievements."

MORE: Winners of last year's Stars of Norfolk and Waveney Awards

Sponsors for the awards include headline sponsor Hopkins Homes, as well as Great Yarmouth Council, Norfolk Constabulary, Norwich Accountancy Services, Breckland Council, NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups for Norfolk and Waveney, Norfolk County Council, Flagship Group, NorseCare, Broadland and South Norfolk District Councils, Gasway, Cottages.com, and Spire Solicitors.

The shortlist will be announced soon with nominees invited to an awards ceremony, hosted by BBC Radio Norfolk's Nick Conrad, at Open Norwich in Bank Plain on Thursday, December 5.