Audlem wins National Award

Audlem has won the DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) National Award for 'Building Community Life', it was announced in London today. The award was presented to Parish Council Chairman Richard Furber by the Minister for Rural Affairs, Jim Knight at a ceremony held today. Audlem was also judged winner of the North of England regional award.

At the same event Audlem was voted the regional North of England Village of the Year in the competition sponsored by Calor Gas. This award was presented to Richard Furber by gardening broadcaster and writer Alan Titchmarsh. The region covers a huge area from Audlem, the most southerly village in Cheshire, to Berwick upon Tweed in the North East next to the Scottish border. The village was in the final five villages for the national Village of the Year award but was beaten by Ashover in Derbyshire.

Richard Furber was naturally delighted by the news and said: "This is a wonderful achievement and reflects the vibrant community we have in Audlem with great events throughout the year. So many people have helped us win these awards it's impossible to thank everyone but I know there will be celebrations even if we just missed out on one award. Everyone has had a lot of fun being judged and we really appreciate all that DEFRA and Calor Gas have done to make them such a success. This has really put Audlem on the map".

There is an article on the Homepage with comments from Calor Gas, Jim Knight and Alan Titchmarsh about the awards and Audlem's success. Richard Furber and Mike Hill were joined on their table at the event by local MP Stephen O'Brien.

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