Honoured with a Gold Civic Award

In February/March 2011 I got a letter from Thatcham Town Council saying I was to be awarded a Gold Civic Award for my work in promoting the town. To say this came as a suprise would be an understatement. There are few things like this that I get that I feel I deserve. Anyway, it is something I am very proud of and honoured to have been awarded. The award was presented to two people including myself on 5th April 2011 by the current Town Mayor, Lee Dillon.

So why did I get it?

These awards are given to those in the community, a maximum of three people in any year, that help to promote the community in various ways. Those that know me know I do a lot of community work. For those that do not know, here is just a sample of what I am involved with;Thatcham Vision, Thatcham Historical Society, Peter Allen Memorial Lectures and Community Events Photography. Part of the award specifically mentions my involvement with establishing the now annual Peter Allen Memorial Lectures.

Why do I do it?

All of this is voluntary so it certainly is not for the money! I have been involved with Thatcham Historical Society since 1999, have sat on the committee since 2003 and have been chair in 2010 and 2011. I have been pushing the society forward in the last few years with a website and social media tools, national history month has been celebrated with a fact a month for the whole of May, the first one of which featured on BBC Radio Berkshire.

In 2009 Peter Allen passed away. Besides being the "Thatcham Historian" for many of us and a fantastic teacher, he was also mentor and friend to many and involved in just about every aspect of Thatcham. In 2010, as part of Thatcham Historical Society, along with several others, I organised the Peter Allen Memorial Lectures. This has since become an annual event. Money raised from the event goes not into the Historical Society accounts but rather is donated to the British Heart Foundation in memory of Peter.

I have been working on and off with Thatcham Vision for a number of years and in 2008 joined the Steering Group to advise on some of the technology side and the heritage side of things. Besides that I also help with various projects, staff stalls that we run and other events we set-up. I also established the first website for the Vision, which rapidly grew to a community news and events site, of which I now run all of.

And there is more...