Great Barton wins St Edmundsbury district round of the Suffolk Village of the Year
Competition 2013
The St Edmundsbury Judging Panel (chaired by Councillor Cockle, with Councillors Mrs
Rushen, Redhead and Thorndyke) enjoyed a day of judging on 14 June. This year's
competition was open to villages with between 1251 and 2250 electors and entries were
received from Barrow, Great Barton and Ixworth.
The judges were warmly welcomed by all three villages, however Great Barton was the
winning village. Great Barton gave an impressive flavour of the community spirit that is
enjoyed, with the village being represented by the Barton Players, Great Barton Allotments
Association, Great Barton Community Woodland, Great Barton Computer Club, Great Barton
Emergency Planning, Great Barton Film Night, Great Barton Luncheon Club, Great Barton
Primary School, Great Barton Village Hall, and Holy Innocents' Church.
Great Barton was awarded a prize of £500 from St Edmundsbury Borough Council (the Parish
Council is able to put this money towards whatever village project they wish), together with
an engraved rose bowl that was presented by the St Edmundsbury Mayor, Councillor Terry
Buckle, on 27 July during a village event.
We wish Great Barton every success in the final to become the Suffolk Village of the Year,
where they will be competing with Brantham and Wickham Market. The final round will take
place on Saturday 10 August and the judges will be Lesley Dolphin and Rob Dunger from
BBC Radio Suffolk.
The competition is organised on an annual basis by the Suffolk Association of Local Councils,
with support from the district
councils, and this year's event
has been sponsored by UK
Power Networks, the East
Anglian Daily Times and the
Suffolk Magazine, with support
from the BBC and Adnams.On Saturday evening 27th July the Mayor Councillor Terry Buckle made an official visit to Great Barton Village Hall so that he could present the prizes to Great Barton for winning the district round of the "Village of the Year" competition. The presentation was made at the start of a free "Film Archive Evening" organised by Great Barton Film Night. Councillor Terry Buckle was pleased to present an engraved rose bowl, which the village retains for a year, and £500 which will be put to community use to Mick Brabrook, Great Barton's Village of the Year co-ordinator and to the other residents who put Great Barton's competition submission together.
Judging for the district round took place Friday 14th July, Great Barton welcomed four St. Edmundsbury Borough councillors doing the judging. The village was given 1 hour and free rein to impress the judges why Great Barton should win the competition. The time constraint meant that the judges remained at the village hall site for the whole visit.
The competition is sponsored by UK Power Networks, the East Anglian Daily Times and the Suffolk Magazine, with support from the BBC and Adnams. The awards are organised on an annual basis by the Suffolk Association of Local Councils, with support from the district councilhhh
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