Flashback to ECN’s visit to Belper in April 2015 to learn how it won the GB High St Competition in 2014.
Want to help make Chipping Norton this year’s Market Town of the Year? That’s our ambitious goal at Experience Chipping Norton – and we’re launching the #LoveChippy photo competition to kick things off.
Inspiration and involvement are key to success in the Great British High Street Awards, according to ECN spokesman, Shaun Fagan. He recently initiated a day-long consultation with the good people of Belper – 2014 winners of the coveted Market Town accolade.
The resulting seminar in Belper also served as the launching pad for this year’s suite of awards.
Shaun is convinced that Chippy has a red-hot chance in the 2015 contest, backed by a host of local volunteers who have stepped up following ECN’s popular public meeting held at Delicacy Deli in March.
“We still need help in key areas, particularly beautification and Chippy in Bloom, but we’re on track to meet our targets”, he says. “This includes entry into the Market Town category of the GB High Street awards, and the launch of our #LoveChippy photo competition, which is a terrific way to celebrate our extremely photogenic town!”
Building on the Lessons of Belper
Our members enjoyed their day in Belper, gaining advice, inspiration and valuable knowledge about the way the town set about winning its key award. Like Chippy, Belper boasts a rich heritage centred on a famous mill . . . in Belper’s case, powering into the industrial revolution based on the genius of Jedediah Strutt, who built one of the world’s earliest water-powered cotton mills.
Both Chippy and Belper – in the Derwent Valley – are historic market towns with wealthy pasts, set in areas of great natural beauty.
And if we can harness the labour and talents of our hard-working locals, ECN member Rupert Parsons sees no reason why Chipping Norton can’t take out the Market Town title in this years’ GB awards.
“The key area still needing volunteer help is beautification of the town”, Rupert says. “And we desperately need someone to take up and run with the Chippy in Bloom project.”
“Chippy is already an attractive town. But if we can find the right help in making it as beautiful as we know it can be, the sky’s the limit really. We need someone with a keen eye to target and co-ordinate the planting, garden maintenance, litter picking and local green projects which can really take our town to the next level.”
So are you out there? If so, let us know!
Get Clicking and Let Chippy Shine
What better way to get people burrowing into the unique character of their home town than a photo competition?
Now up and running, you can enter #LoveChippy through the social media of your choosing – Facebook, Twitter or Instagram are the popular picks. Subjects are limited only by your imagination, so get snapping now.
With rolling prizes, keep your eye on the Chippy website and social media to find out more. Someone will soon be demolishing the Easter eggs which kicked off the competition’s prize offerings.
Public Meeting promise
Experience Chipping Norton’s monthly public meetings are fast becoming a feature of both the town and the innovative group project which is ECN, generating a real buzz.
The March meeting saw more than 70 local people attend, many of whom signed up to push forward the ECN project.
We want anybody and everybody to attend, so we can spread the word of what we do now, what we want to do in future, and how we see ourselves getting there – always powered by local people, local knowledge and sheer local ambition and enterprise.
That’s what we want to tap into – those great reserves of will power and initiative that we know are out there, but sometimes struggle for an airing.
Prime Minister David Cameron gave us a launching pad at January’s major civic meeting, and now it’s up to us to take it forward.
The April 21st public meeting features a presentation by go-ahead Kingham charity Rafiki Thabo Foundation, supporting children who are struggling to get an education in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho.
And the meeting on 20th May at the revamped Red Lion will feature amazing local character Penny Mallory – the motivational speaker, author, TV presenter and award-winning rally car driver who rebuilt her life following family breakdown, drug addiction and self-harm.
Hope to see you there! Contact Us to sign up with ECN.
