Thank you to STEPHEN ALDEN who provided us with the following report.

The Cultural life of Chelmsford City has improved dramatically within the past two decades and this is due in no small part, to dedicated individuals giving freely of their own time and hard-earned monies to give something back to their beloved City and their community.

Mr. Andy Poole along with his ten-strong team of volunteers, organised the PANIC magazine, also known as <>. The listings magazine featuring previews and reviews for the Arts-scene in Chelmsford for the past ten years and its associated annual Awards ceremony.

PANIC Awards itself has just celebrated its ninth anniversary and the most recent PANIC event was held on the evening of April 16th.

And following my kind invitation from Mr. Andy Poole and Becky Wood, two of the PANIC magazine organisers, I found myself at Chelmsford’s Civic Theatre for this year’s annual celebration of all the best in the Art’s community of Chelmsford.

As advised by the booking clerks of the Civic, I arrived in good time for the ceremony and took my seat ready to enjoy the evening’s programme.

PANIC celebrated eleven facets of Chelmsford’s live entertainment community this year, and the Award categories and winners are listed below:-

Regular Night- SHAKEY’S UNSIGNED SESSIONS

D.J.- ANDY “HATMAN” LAURIE

NEWCOMER- FREAK a.k.a CoNNOR

COMEDIAN- ROB SAUNDERs

PROMOTER- BASSMENT BAR

SOLO PERFORMER- PAOLO MORENA

THEATRE PRODUCTION- “SWEENEY TODD”, CHELMSFORD THEATRE WORKSHOPS

ONE-OFF EVENT- “WALTHAMSTOCK” FESTIVAL

VENUE- BASSMENT BAR

BAND- “LEMONCURD KIDS”

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION- “WALTHAMSTOCK” FESTIVAL

Interval entertainment was provided by a showcase of the many varied talents and musical styles of the nominated Best Bands. One of the best things about PANIC is because it is a “grass-roots” event, the audience is very likely to know the nominees for the Awards, if not the eventual winner, as all played a greater part in the life of Chelmsford arts community.

PANIC Awards 2016 was a not-for profit event and everyone involved donated their time and efforts free-of-charge. The combined £6 fees paid by each audience member for their PANIC evening ticket were collected and donated to the nominated charity, this year www.saferplaces.co.uk, an independent charity which provide a range of services to Essex children and adults affected by Domestic and sexual abuse.