Faringdon Town Council was delighted to hold the Faringdon Community Awards in the Corn Exchange on the 18th May 2022 and announce this year’s winners.
Faringdon Town Council presented two very special awards to the families of Mairead Boyce and Roddy Benson.
Recognition of outstanding service to the Community – Mairead Boyce
Recognition of outstanding service to the Community – Roddy Benson
Faringdon Town Council would like to take this opportunity thank all the nominees for their service and commitment to our community.
Clive Davis Community Hero Award.
Winner: Peter King
Al Cane
Rebekah Pugh
Winner: Peter King
Group Award –Nominees for the Award:
Faringdon Art Society
Faringdon Rugby
Pump House Project
Winner: Pump House Project
Business Award – Nominees for the Award:
Sadlers
RM Therapies
The Advertiser
Winner: Sadlers
Community Volunteer Award – Nominees for the Award:
Karen Vogt
Faringdon Food Bank Volunteers
COVID Vaccination Centre Volunteers
Winner – COVID Vaccination Centre Volunteers
Community Environmental Champion – Nominees for the Award:
Pam de Wit
Mark Coleman
Katie- Louise Herring
Winner: Katie-Louise Herring, Tribe Zero Waste
Faringdon Community Awards Nominations 2022
Awards were given at this year’s Town Meeting held on the 18th May 2022 in the Corn Exchange.
Recognition of outstanding service to the Community Award – Mairead Boyce
Recognition of outstanding service to the Community Award – Roddy Benson
Please see below for the list of nominees and a brief description of why they were nominated:
Community Hero Award
Rachel Williams -Has brought music to Faringdon by organising Morris dancing, the Folk Weekend, the Swan Sessions, starting up a now thriving Community Choir as well as supporting the busking events. All of this has brought much needed cheer to our community during a rather gloomy year.
Peter King – For stepping up and for continuing to step up during the pandemic. Peter has been a valuable member of the voluntary COVID 19 vaccination team at the White Horse practice. In 2020 he gave over 800 hours of his time, vaccinating the local population. He so wanted to make a difference that he took the decision to retire from a career of 35 years so that he could undertake more voluntary work. He continues to vaccinate at the White Horse practice at every opportunity.
Al Cane -For helping us through the pandemic and raising much needed funds for the benefit of Food Bank, The Place, Refugee Charities via music in the Market Place.
Rebekah Pugh -For starting up Flowers from Molly. This beautifully simple idea has brought so much comfort and joy to many local people during this pandemic.
Group Award
Faringdon Art Society -Started in 1964 Faringdon Arts Society (FAS) are a passionate, talented group of artists who deserve an award for their many years of creating art for people to enjoy and for putting on a range of accessible events such as trips, teaching workshops, (eg: painting, mosaic making, art talks) They also arranged art talks throughout the pandemic by Zoom, and Lockdown Art. The 2021 Art Exhibition at the Corn Exchange was truly amazing with high quality art in various forms on display! FAS have a lovely website where people can view the range of work by individual artists as well as events and other interesting information.
Faringdon Rugby Club -This club has grown in the last 2 years to be an inclusive and important part of the Faringdon Community. The club’s membership has grown exponentially in all areas. It has seen the promotion of female participation in Rugby with the starting of a female team with weekly training, as well as female participation in exercise generally with regular well attended “inner Warrior” training camps (health and exercise-based sessions open to all females in the local area of any ability and fitness level). There is a fantastic mini and youth rugby section of the club which has again seen excellent growth offering children in the area great coaching no matter what their ability or fitness level. The coaching offered is professional, motivational and stimulating. Not stopping here with children’s sport, the club has even set up affiliation with the local school to operate after school taster rugby sessions as part of the planned schools’ activities, bringing the sport and general health and fitness to children that might not ordinarily be attracted to the sports team environment.
Pump House Project -This is a great community project with wonderful people volunteering their time with the patience and kindness. Nothing is too much trouble, and it is always a happy place to be. The team demonstrates outstanding dedication to Community development! Pump House project is people focused, inclusive, friendly, patient and provides a wonderful variety of activities.
Business Award
Sadlers – Bent over backwards to offer a service to Faringdon during lockdown and Saturdays became the night of the week to look forward to with their Gastro Meals. They very effectively moulded their business to offer something a little special when things were extremely difficult for everyone.
RM Therapies -There have been many people who have benefitted from Robbie Mullaney’s generosity. He is a physical therapist who supports the Faringdon Rugby men’s team every week to prepare players for their matches and provides pitch side first aid – all free of charge. The rugby team has made so much improvement, from training and coaching, but I’m sure that they’d agree that having Robbie has also given them confidence. He has helped many others in Faringdon, often giving free treatments, advice or other (more physical) help to those in need. As his wife, I have seen him put the needs of others before his own and I know that the folk of Faringdon have appreciated his dedication and his commitment to providing a service that remains affordable in an area that could attract high costs. A mighty one-man business that truly reflects Faringdon!
The Advertiser – Lou Guthrie and the Advertiser are brilliant for promoting local business. Supporting local sports team, which we all know need extra financial support. The Advertiser has for some years provided a valuable shop window for Faringdon, most especially since the demise of Folly News and What’s On. The Advertiser’s extensive free of charge distribution to homes in Faringdon and villages of The Vale is a valued communication. For those without internet it is priceless. The Advertiser has generously promoted and carried free of charge advertising for Faringdon charity fundraising events. Faringdon would be less fortunate without it.
Community Volunteer Award
Karen Vogt – Runs the Mustard Seed on a voluntary basis. Throughout lockdown she made deliveries by bike and handmade dozens of hampers for groups who could not meet for their traditional Christmas meals.
Faringdon Food Bank Volunteers – Tireless dedication by the team to help others with food. Regularly giving their time freely, going shopping and delivering when necessary.
COVID Vaccination Centre Volunteers – All the volunteers and staff who helped Faringdon and district get their Covid vaccinations and boosters at the Medical Centre and the RAC building have been a dedicated and hardworking team.
Community Environmental Champion Award
Tribe Zero Waste – Shivering out at the markets since August 2021, Katie has become part of the scene and does a fabulous job educating people on how to do better for the environment. Her social media posts are vibrant, energetic, fun and informative.
Pam de Wit – Pam has organised and contributed to the replanting of the flowerbeds at the Southampton Street carpark, as well as promoting the planting of trees in Faringdon.
Mark Coleman – For his voluntary work with the Wilderness Project and the National Trust. He gives a considerable amount of his time protecting and enhancing the local environment to enable biodiversity to thrive.
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