Over 35 local community champions from the Vale of White Horse were awarded for their commitment to helping others living in the district.
Members of local community groups and individual volunteers were nominated to attend an award ceremony by Cllr Margaret Crick, Chair of Vale of White Horse District Council, as a thank you for their selfless hard work.
People from across the district attended a lunch and received a certificate and trophy as a token of Cllr Crick’s gratitude. Awards were given to the community group Farcycle that helps people of all ages in Faringdon to learn how to cycle safely, and Fiona Bartholomew was thanked for her involvement with the restoration of St Mary’s Church in Buckland.
Lyn Williamson from Faringdon Farcycles said, “The whole event was uplifting, and heart-warming and we felt very privileged to be invited. It was lovely to meet the other award recipients, share experiences on our community work and exchange ideas on new projects.”
Attached is the photograph of the Faringdon community award winners with Cllr Bethia Thomas, local ward councillor for Faringdon, and a photograph of Lyn and David Williamson from Faringdon Farcycles with Cllr Margaret Crick, Chair of the Vale of White Horse District Council.
Next year’s nominations for the Vale community awards are now open. Anyone can nominate a community group or individual that volunteers and benefits people living in the Vale of White Horse district by emailing [email protected]
The full list of people and groups awarded were:
Abingdon
Abingdon Parkrun Volunteers – for organising parkruns and contributing to residents improved health. Represented by Lucy Hamilton, Anita Jassi, Stephen Lewis and Mike Shepherd.
The Abingdon Town Band for many years of continuous support at community events and for twinning. The band was represented by Steve Rich and James Grundonner.
Catherine Duff for charity fund raising at Manor School.
Sally Foulsham for being a founder member and driving force behind SHIFT – an organisation that supports parents with children who have special needs.
Ashbury
Ashbury Neighbourhood Plan Group – represented by Julia Blake, Peter Cowx, Peter Challen-Smith and Pauline Smith.
Buckland
Fiona Bartholomew for her instrumental part in the restoration of St Mary’s Church and helping to run local events.
Charney Bassett
Bruce Hedge for his work with the Vale of White Horse Industrial Archaeology Group, in particular the restoration of the Charney Mill.
Cumnor
Fiona Newton for work on the Cumnor Neighbourhood plan.
Drayton
Richard Williams for his work on the Drayton Neighbourhood Plan. Richard is also a parish councillor.
East Hendred
The East Hendred Heritage Trust for maintaining and enhancing the village museum – Champs Chapel Museum. The group was represented by Peter Kilgarriff, Jan Wansell, Robin Hine and Sue Roberts.
Faringdon
Al Cane for his work to bring music to the town via vinyl sales and introducing busking in the Market Place. For raising funds for the Pump House Project and the Place and generally supporting town events.
Malcolm Gee for being instrumental getting a Public Access Defibrillator in town and has worked hard to raise awareness of and to demonstrate the equipment. As a first responder he supports local events.
Andrew Marsden for his work on the Faringdon Neighbourhood Plan. Andrew was a town councillor.
Sjoerd Vogt who received an award two years running but the first was for being general good guy in town. This year was specifically for his work in turning the town pink for the OVO Energy Women’s Tour.
Lyn and David Williamson for the Faringdon Cycle Park, which helps people of all ages to learn to cycle safely on the road. They secured funding and gained planning permission for the park.
Kennington
Gillian Cox who was instrumental in getting the Kennington Memory Club set up, for many years work with the Alzheimer’s Society, Kennington Overseas aid and Good Neighbours scheme.
Kingston Bagpuize
Kathryn Hall for supporting many community activities in and around her village and in Southmoor and in particular for her work with the Brownies.
Letcombe Regis
Sue Hannon for her work as Chair of the village hall and recreation ground trust. Sue also raised funds and oversaw the work to replace the old village hall with a new facility.
Marcham
Rachel Gaisford for her work with Age UK and the older residents in the village.
Grace Burfitt for supporting the older residents of the village.
Radley
Ann Blake for producing and distributing the local news letter and support of local events.
Shrivenham
David Jenkins for his work on the village fete.
Uffington
Barry Godsell for his work in keeping the village clean, tidy and safe. Cutting grass verges, clearing the ditch and cutting pathways on the allotment site.
West Hendred
Tim Hutchinson for “Not Just a Beer Festival”. This is a two-day event, Friday is a beer festival for serious beer drinkers and Saturday is a family fun day with proceeds from the festival donated to charity.
Awards collected by a representative
Ed Evans was awarded posthumously for his work as a pastor of Abingdon Community Church. He also helped to set up the street pastors and support other local groups such as the food bank and the children’s centre.
Gareth Clarke from Didcot for his work as Chair of the Great Western Park Residents Association and bringing residents together.
Dominique Henderson from Radley for running the local Sunday school and her stewardship of the annual flower show.
Nominated but unable to attend
The Marcham Community Minibus organisers and drivers who help transport villagers and local community groups for trips around the county.
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