Civic Celebration
Published: 01 March 2017
Town Mayor, Carol Davies, introduced the awards and is shown here with
the attractive window art work created by students from Epping Forest College.
This
year’s Civic Celebration, held at the Murray Hall on Sunday 26 February, was
organised by the current town mayor, Cllr Carol Davies.
The
music and readings were specially chosen to reflect the theme of this year’s
celebration:
“One
person can make a difference and everyone should try”, a text attributed to
John F Kennedy.
Music
during the celebration included the popular anthem “You’re the Voice” sung by
the St
John Fisher Catholic Primary School choir led by Kathryn Poulter; a humorous
rendition of the “Carnival of Venice” by local musicians, Ken and Rachel
Bartels (flute and harp); Matthew Shepherd, vocalist and guitarist, performed
two of his own songs and Muki Zubis sung Diamonds.
Readings
were given by Epping Forest Youth Councillors, Alex Hantig and Alex Theodorou,
and
Nicole Abraham, daughter of deputy town mayor, Philip Abraham.
We are
particularly grateful to Ian King, Leader at Restore Community Church, for
acting as compere for the afternoon.
One of the highlights of
this annual event is the presentation of the Citizenship Awards, an
opportunity to celebrate Loughton’s
wonderful community spirit and some of the
people that make a difference in our town.
This award scheme is in now in its 9th year and we are
delighted that there are still plenty of worthy nominations from amongst our
residents.
We were honoured to have
Michael Chapman, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex, in attendance to
make the formal presentations.
Our congratulations go
to Sue Taylor, the winner of the
2017 citizenship award.
Sue has been the
director of the Loughton Festival for over 10 years. The festival showcases the
people and organisations that make Loughton such a vibrant place to live. It provides a range of events for all the
family, from walks, talks and music to community events. This year’s festival in May will also raise
valuable funds for the Essex Air Ambulance and the Loughton Youth Project. In nominating Sue for
this award, Kay Lundy described Sue as being passionate about Loughton and its
inhabitants. Sue is also a keen member
and promoter of the Epping Forest Neighbourhood Watch and runs the Debden
History page. Sue received an engraved silver
rose bowl and scroll and a cheque for £250 will be sent on her behalf to the
Loughton Youth Project.
A special community long service award was presented to Margaret Weston for her dedication to
the health and wellbeing of local residents.
Margaret taught yoga over many decades, specialising in those with other
serious health problems.
She received a
framed certificate and a cheque for £250 will be sent to Cancer UK on her
behalf.
The final award was made to the 16th Epping Forest Beavers for their artistic challenge
to the Local Plan proposals.
These young
residents expressed their love and appreciation for the local green spaces and
their objections to the
proposed development through a series of before and
after drawings.
The Beavers also received a framed certificate and £250 cheque
for their group.
The
refreshments after the celebrations sponsored by the Loughton, Chigwell &
Buckhurst Hill Rotary Club and
Pesh & Manisha Kapasiawala, were provided by
local bakery school, Fabulicious.
A retiring
collection raised funds for the Town Mayor’s charities, the Loughton branch of
the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Loughton Food Bank.