Highest honour for Higham Ferrers tourism committee hailed "a great role model" by Barbara Cole

Members of the town’s Tourism committee who took home Northamptonshire Heritage Forum’s coveted “Heritage Organisation of the Year Award” have been praised for acting as effective leaders for their community.

The judges felt their “team spirit of cooperation was a great role model.”

The Heritage Organisation of the Year Award was the highest honour announced at the Heritage Forum’s recent awards ceremony at Wicksteed Park and Higham Ferrers Tourism faced stiff competition from other entrants.

“I am really quite proud of what we have achieved over the years as we are trying to promote Higham Ferrers as an interesting visitor destination,” said Liz Barnatt, chairperson of Higham Ferrers Tourism, at the committee’s monthly meeting a few days later.

As well as taking the top award for the community, Higham Ferrers Tourism also won the Hindsight Award for the Best Published Work: the same award that they won two years ago.

This time, their entry was a film made by Higham Ferrers Junior School children, showcasing their top 10 favourite places in the historic town. The film was downloaded onto YouTube to ensure the pupils show off the town to everyone.

“The pupils were really being trained as tour guides, the idea being that they would know so much about Higham Ferrers that they will be able to pass on their knowledge to their parents and friends,” explained Carol Fitzgerald, chairperson of the Chichele College Management Committee, a sub-committee of Higham Ferrers Tourism, who supervised the project.

Two interpretation boards detailing the school-goers Top 10 favourite places, along with a map of where they can be found, have gone up in the school playground and at the nearby historic Chichele College.

The Chichele College board has been taken to other venues to share with new audiences and the film is on show at the Discover Northamptonshire Visitor Hub at Rushden Lakes.

The cost of the film was jointly sponsored by All Souls College, Oxford – founded by Higham’s most famous son, Archbishop Henry Chichele – and the Higham Ferrers Town Council.

The Tourism Committee works alongside all community groups in Higham Ferrers including the Gateway Club, the Social Prescription Group, the Friends of St Mary’s and the Higham Ferrers Archaeology and Research Society (HiFars).

The awards ceremony is held every two years, and the Tourism Committee entered a total of five categories. While four went to other organisations, Higham Ferrers Tourism’s name was mentioned throughout the night as being shortlisted for the various honours.

The ceremony finally culminated in the announcement of the top award, with the decision said to be a reflection of all the time and energy Higham Ferrers Tourism had invested in keeping the heritage of the town alive.

“The judges thoroughly enjoyed the healthy energy and engagement of so many different sectors of the population. They felt that your team spirit of cooperation was a great role model,” said Laura Malpas of the Northamptonshire Heritage Forum.

In awarding the Heritage Organisation of the Year to the community of Higham Ferrers, the judges said that there was something for everyone in the area: for the young and old, who working together share a similar vision of community harmony and fun.

“It is an important lesson for all who work in heritage to recognise that working together rather than in competition can be inspiring and productive and that mutual support brings rewards. The judges noted that Higham Ferrers Tourism act as effective leaders for their community and are to be commended for their work.”

The judges were: Professor Matthew McCormack from the University of Northamptonshire, Neville Stankley of Nottingham Trent University, Susanne Oliver of Catalyst Solutions and Rachel McGrath, chief executive of the Northamptonshire Community Foundation.