Community Awards 2006 Nominees
- Community Group of the Year
- Volunteer Worker of the Year
- Business Community Project of the Year
- Trainee of the Year
- Fairtrade Business of the Year
- Urban Project of the Year
- Rural Project of the Year
- Fundraiser of the the Year
- Young Hero Award
- Teacher of the Year
- Sportsperson of the Year
- Junior Sportsperson of the Year
- Fine Lady of Banbury
Rural Project of the Year
(Sponsored by
Karcher UK)
John Hirons
AN ENERGETIC, inspirational leader who has helped turn around the lives of wayward youngsters has been nominated for two awards.
John Hirons, farm manager at The Warriner School in Bloxham, has been put forward in both the Rural Project of the Year and Teacher of the Year categories. He has worked at the farm for 12 years and will take a well-earned retirement later this summer. On being told of his nominations, Mr Hirons said: “I feel very humbled. I just try to do a professional job, but it's very nice to get this recognition.”
When he arrived at the farm, he had to run it without any financial support save for his own salary after the Government pulled the plug on the subsidy it had formerly handed out to school farms.
Now, not only is it still going but it has just been awarded a £35,000 grant from Oxfordshire County Council for its educational success.
Mr Hirons said: “I'm very pleased the vision we had for the farm 12 years ago has now reached its zenith. I also have a wonderful team of people who support that vision. I couldn't have wished for more.
“The farm is unique in Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties, and we are probably the biggest state school farm in the country.”
Looking back over his 12 years on the farm, Mr Hirons said two of his personal highlights were a visit from the Prince of Wales in 2003, during which the Prince commended him for his industry and determination, and an invitation to a garden party at Buckingham Palace where he met the Queen.
He added: “I think what has given me the greatest satisfaction is having taken children at risk of exclusion or receiving ASBOs and giving them a purpose in life.”
Parent Margaret Bignell, who has children at the school, added: “Generations of students have benefited from his patience and dedication to the task of bringing rural affairs to a wider audience.”
Sulgrave Village ShopA COMMUNITY enterprise run almost entirely by volunteers has restored the once-threatened heart of its village.
Sulgrave's original store closed down in August 2001 after profits waned and the lease expired.
Residents who missed it teamed together as a co-operative in 2004 to open and run a new store in an 18th century reading room bought by the parish council.
Now staffed by about 60 volunteers, ranging from very young to very old, and owned by 165 shareholders, it is open seven days a week and offers Post Office services. The only paid position is shop manager David Bolton.
It operates as part of what it calls the rural community enterprise network, offering a wide selection of local produce.
It has been honoured as runner-up in the Countryside Alliance's Best Rural Retailer of the year 2005, and recently selected in the Observer Ethical Awards 2006 top ten for the category Ethical Retailer of the Year.
Libbie Foster, one of the shop's volunteers and a member of its management committee, said: “Our mission was to create a vibrant hub of shared village life run for the benefit of Sulgrave and beyond, and the shop's put new heart back into the village.”
Deddington Farmers' Market
A VOLUNTEER farming project has become one of the best of its kind in the country.
Started in 2001 with eight stalls, Deddington Farmers' Market was the first in Oxfordshire to be certified by the Farmers' Retail and Market Association (FARMA).
Run by a group of unpaid volunteers, it now regularly boasts about 50 stalls with a huge variety of wares and is so popular among local producers it has a reserve list.
Held on the fourth Saturday of every month it often attracts more than 2,000 visitors from the region, the same number as the village's entire population.
“We had no idea of how popular it was going to be and are absolutely amazed by how it's grown,” said Charles Newey, founder and chairman of Deddington Market Management Group.
“The time was right socially and politically, but we also create a wonderful atmosphere every month and people look at it as a social gathering with the whole community getting behind it.”
Deddington has finished runner-up in FARMA's Farmers' Market of the Year competition for two years running, placing it in the top five in the UK.