Four groundbreaking projects in and around Ross-on-Wye have scooped top prizes in a prestigious awards competition held in Cheadle.
The awards scheme, run by Action for Market Towns with sponsorship from regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, sets out to reward initiatives launched to breathe life into market towns and their hinterlands through the Market Towns Initiative.
Winners in the competition were:
• Environmental and cultural category - Ross Live!
• Social and community category – Adult and Community Mobile IT, run by John Kyrle High School in Ross-on-Wye
• Best Strategic Partnership Working category – Stourport Forward
• Business and economy category – Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Solihull Redundant Building Grant Scheme
The John Kyrle High School project was the overall winner in the awards and now represents the West Midlands in the national final in October.
Following the success of the Adult and Community Learning Centre at John Kyrle High School in Ross-on-Wye, which opened in February 2006, the Market Town Initiative funded a mobile IT suite with the provision of laptop computers.
This additional facility at the ACL boosted the capacity of the centre which has seen 1,248 attendees pass through its doors between February 2006 and February 2008 along with 373 qualifications attained and 124 businesses helped.
John Docherty, Senior Administration Officer at John Kryle High School, said: “We were delighted to receive the social and community award and absolutely overwhelmed to win the overall regional prize.
“After being graded by OFSTED as an ‘outstanding school’ earlier this year, could the year get any better?
“I must give credit to the centre manager Paul Mason for his tireless dedication to adult and community learning over the past two years and we look forward to attending the national final in October.”
Jon Payne, Advantage West Midlands Partnerships Team Leader, who presented both winners with their framed certificates, said: “These projects are excellent examples of what the funding provided by Advantage West Midlands through the Market Towns Initiative can achieve.
“They have both made a real impact to the community and I know the John Kryle High project will have an excellent chance of winning the overall title at the final in October.”