Village publications make headline newsPublished on 16 March 2004MID-Anglia's top community magazines hit the headlines themselves today - as the winners of a special competition. Ten publications received plaudits in the Annual Village and Community Magazine Awards, sponsored by Cambridge Building Society and the News. They were picked as the best from a total entry of nearly 60 magazines and newsletters from all over the region, 14 of them publications entered for the first time. The winning magazine in the small village category of the awards was Village Voice, which serves three East Cambridgeshire villages - Haddenham, Aldreth and Wilburton - and the runner-up was The Swaffham Crier, published for people in the Swaffhams. Three other magazines were highly commended - The Orwell Bulletin, Arkesden Village News and The Buntingford Journal. In the large village category, the winner was Sawston Scene, and the runner-up was Melbourn Magazine, with three other newsletters highly commended - Newport News, The winning magazines in each category picked up a £500 prize each, as well as a trophy, and the runners-up got £250 prizes. Bob Jackson, the building society's chief executive and one of the judges for the competition, praised all the magazines and newsletters which were entered. "The standard of writing and production has been higher than ever," he said at the awards ceremony, held at Over Community Centre, last night. The other judges were Shirley Fieldhouse, of Cambridgeshire village development organisation ACRE; Ruth Bond of Cambridgeshire Federation of Women's Institutes; Caroline Togher, head of marketing for the building society; and Chris Elliott, news features editor of the News. |
