Two winners celebrated in 2023 Mortimer Community Awards

Two dedicated residents have been recognised for their years of outstanding community service to Mortimer and the surrounding areas.

Rebecca Barker and Anne Haines were this year’s chosen recipients in the publicly-nominated Community Awards.

Parish chairman Mike Dennett presented them with their awards at the village’s annual parish meeting on Monday, April 24, in the presence of fellow parish councillors, members of the public and friends of the winners.

Nominations opened in December with a total of 15 entries being received.

“Anyone can submit a proposal to the parish council, and then there’s a small committee that consider them,” said councillor Nick Carter.

And the committee narrowed the entries down to five nominations, before ultimately deciding upon the two winners.

The awards, going since 1983, consider the length of service, the voluntary nature of work and the diversity of the contributions the nominee has made to their local community.

Rebecca Barker’s award recognises her role as a founding member of the Mortimer Village Partnership, a former chair of the parish council and for playing a central part at the Mortimer Lunch Club – itself a winner of West Berkshire Community Award 2022.

She also organised the Bags2School clothes collection, which raises vital funds for Mortimer’s two schools.

And Anne Haines ran a pre-owned children’s clothes market in her kitchen in the 1980s.

After retiring from a career in nursing, she became a stalwart of the Mortimer Women’s Institute, where she led giving toiletry bags for hospital admissions.

She has been a central part of the Mortimer Flower Circle for about 45 years, serving 20 of those as chair.

She also helped with the Covid vaccination programme at Pangbourne, the Mortimer Baby and Toddler group and is a Handybus escort for transport to Lunch Club.

Both women received decorated plates made by Bradfield artist Andrew Hazelden, who learned his craft at the former Aldermaston Pottery which he joined in 1984.

Each plate is customised to reflect each winner’s accomplishments.

Look out for next year’s nomination window.