Class of 2022/23

Alcester Town Council, Warwickshire and West Midlands

Alcester Town Council (ATC) has focused on the health and well-being of its residents since 2016. By creating a Health and Wellbeing Board, including members of the local statutory and voluntary sector and other interested parties, the council’s vision and objective have been to develop a resilient community by building capacity and social networks. The board recognises the importance of helping the community feel more connected so that people can share information, feel less isolated and increase their sense of belonging and wellbeing.

Alcester Town Council is unusual in that it employs a health and wellbeing coordinator whose job is to partner with local organisations to create new services, activities, events, and projects that meet the needs of the community; represent and support existing groups and societies that promote health and wellbeing in the community, help to initiate, develop, and lead on any new projects and services and put forward the wishes and needs of the local community through consultation and two-way communication. 

Many activities and projects outlined below are a direct consequence of the ideas and responses received from the community in Alcester, most are currently delivered by the community, and all promote inclusion and build community cohesion. Funding has been sought, and relationships forged with both the private and public sectors to bring about the vision many community members have felt most passionate about. The main projects this year have included Cook and Eat Your Tea which helps different groups of people to cook together and then sit down and eat the meal they have prepared, the Well Connected computer group, which Alcester Town Council supports alongside eight volunteers, the Repair Café Alcester which is also supported by Alcester Town Council, a weekly group for adults with learning and /or physical disabilities called The Crafty Lunch Club that is delivered with financial support from Alcester Town Council, the Gone Fishin fishing programme for a small number of residents that may find themselves suffering from health inequalities, Get A Move On fitness classes for the over 60s and a holiday lunch club funded by Alcester Town Council which provides hot lunches for local children. The lunch club was an initiative by a resident during the lockdown and now continues during school holidays.

Cllr Jeremy Richardson, Cold Norton Parish Council, Essex

Cllr Jeremy Richardson is elected to Cold Norton Parish Council in Essex. From February 2020, he enthusiastically took on the challenge of leading a working party with not one but three demanding aims. The first of these was to secure funding and oversee the design of new children’s play equipment in the village park to replace old, outdated apparatus. The second was to design an extension to the existing village hall car park, seek funding for the build costs and identify contractors. The final and most significant challenge was to deliver a civil engineering project that sought to significantly upgrade the unmade and heavily pot-holed road surface leading to the village hall in the hopes of attracting more visitors and business.

Demonstrating his determination and public-spiritedness, Cllr Richardson worked largely alone over two years throughout the covid pandemic to bring the project to the point where phase one has been successfully completed, and both planning permission and funding for phases two and three have been secured, with completion expected later this year. To deliver the project in this timeframe, especially given business delays caused by the pandemic, has been truly impressive.

From the outset, Cllr Richardson set out a detailed project plan, identifying objectives, requirements, and funding options for each phase. Throughout the project, Cllr Richardson provided comprehensive updates to the parish council, as well as to the village hall management committee and parish residents. He went even further in ensuring that the community were included in the project by inviting views from all relevant stakeholders at critical stages, including liaising with Cold Norton School and the local playgroup and allowing the children to vote on their preferred design.

The project hinged on the submission of detailed loan applications submitted to the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) and complete planning applications submitted and resubmitted to Maldon District Council. The approval of these gave the village hall fourteen extra parking spaces and has made new play equipment and road improvement possible.

Local children are now able to play in a modern play area, and soon the village hall will benefit from the improvements that Cllr Richardson has been instrumental in bringing about, allowing it to gain new business and prosper. 

Cllr Stefan Heighway, Great Dawley Town Council, Shropshire

Cllr Stefan Heighway was first elected to Great Dawley Town Council in 2015 aged 26 and then became the Mayor of Great Dawley between 2020-2022 at the age of 31. Cllr Heighway has attended council meetings and event working groups, authorised payments, worked alongside staff to attend photo opportunities and events and volunteered for activities and events. 

Cllr Heighway has attended events hosted by the mayors of other councils, including local carol concerts and charity events. In addition, Cllr Heighway volunteered for the borough council to help collect and deliver prescriptions for some of the community's most vulnerable members. Cllr Heighway has been involved in the delivery of local events, consulting with the community to find out what they want to see at these events.

During the pandemic restrictions, Cllr Heighway helped deliver breakfast parcels for families on free school meals and hot meals to those that were isolated. He attended food parcel collection services at locations across the parish to remain visible with the local community, helped with signposting to partner agencies and services and hosted online videos to maintain two-way communication with the local community. When restrictions were lifted, Cllr Heighway helped inform the community and host welcome back events. When shops and businesses reopened on the local high street, Cllr Heighway visited each business to welcome them back and thank those that worked hard during the pandemic.

Cllr Heighway hosted the Mayors Citizens Award to identify community members who had gone above and beyond for others. Cllr Heighway opened a new building managed by the council, which offers a range of services from organisations, voluntary groups and charities that provide free local advice for the community. Cllr Heighway attended the launch event and signposted and networked between organisations and the community.

Cllr Heighway was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2010 at the age of 21. Part of this meant that he struggled in social situations and with public speaking. Since becoming a councillor and then mayor, Cllr Heighway has overcome some of the barriers and become more confident at public speaking, opening, hosting and attending public events. 

Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils

Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils has delivered an innovative project to create a framework for the devolution of assets and services, build capacity, and develop a new relationship between parish and town councils and the unitary councils in Northamptonshire. The association worked in partnership with North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council, the unitary councils that were formed on 1 April 2021 as a result of local government reorganisation.

The project was funded under the UK Community Renewal Fund. In July 2021, the association bid for and was awarded £281,625. This has been used to engage a project team, provide grants to parish and town councils to map assets and services in their area, procure innovative Association Management Software and engage with the unitary councils to co-design a new relationship based on the LGA’s publication Local service delivery and place-shaping: A framework to support parish and town councils.

The idea of the Asset Mapping Project (AMP) started at an Annual Conference in 2019, where Sarah Mason from Cornwall spoke on Life after Unitary Reorganisation – The Parish & Town Council Perspective. Sarah said how important it was that local councils mapped the assets and services in their parish, and that was the responsibility of the unitary council to identify what was most important to the community.

In December 2021, the association asked each of the 271 local councils in Northamptonshire to set up an AMP Working Group. The working groups were tasked with mapping the assets and services that are the responsibility of the relevant unitary council and Assets of Community Value (ACVs) and plotting them on a map by 31 March 2022. The working groups were asked to use Parish Online. Parish Online provided a subscription for every local council in Northamptonshire and created a shared layer for working groups to use. By 31 March 2022, over 6,000 map points had been created by parish and town councils. Of the 271 parishes, 231 were eligible for a grant to support the mapping work (the remaining 40 being parish meetings), of which 78% claimed the grant.  

Terry Philpott, Ware Town Council, Hertfordshire

Terry Philpott has been town clerk in Ware since 2019. Since his arrival, councillors have been impressed with the dynamism Terry brings to his work, developing and transforming the council into one admired locally.

Terry’s strengths as a clerk come from a combination of twelve years of experience as a councillor with experience in senior roles in the commercial retail sector. His commercial instincts generate income for the council and Ware Priory Trading, the weddings and conferences business that falls under his remit. Working with others to remodel the business has transformed a £60,000 per annum loss to a profit of £100,000 per annum.

Terry embodies the principle of ‘starting with the end in mind’. Combined with his project management skills, this ensures projects are delivered promptly with value for residents. For example, he organised a strategic planning day enabling councillors and officers to collaborate to set the direction for the four-year business plan and build a one-team ethos. The ambitious fully-costed plan stabilised council finances, rebuilt depleted reserves and launched a range of projects including a £240,000 skatepark, a £140,000 play area, an enhanced grant scheme, and a range of eco initiatives including an eco-community day and a community biodiversity group. In addition, Terry initiated the creation of the Ware Town Centre Steering Group, bringing together business, community and local government to develop the town centre. Current projects include replacing CCTV and investigating the feasibility of a community bank hub.

As part of a review, Terry introduced a paper lite office set-up, encouraging digital practices which allowed the council to operate effectively during covid restrictions. He has a management style based around coaching and collaboration, working to enable personal development and providing a balance between stretch and support. This has raised morale among council staff. Mindful of the importance of well-being in the workplace, he has just completed a mental health first aid course.

Consistently one to innovate, Terry encourages officers, councillors and community groups to have the same mindset. Initiatives include digital touchscreen noticeboards being installed in the town, a self-cleaning toilet pod included in next year’s budget, and an Escape Room under consideration for the Lido building.

Terry’s achievements and work with his staff team, councillors, stakeholders, local organisations and the community consistently attract genuine approval and praise.