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  4. The Bovey Tracey and Heathfield Community Awards
  • The Bovey Tracey and Heathfield Community Awards image 1

This year the council will be seeking to make three Awards. These are:

  • Community Champion
  • Young Citizen of the Year
  • Honorary Representative of the Lord of the Manor of Bovey Tracey (awarded annually for long-term voluntary service to the parish).

The Council is seeking nominations in each of these categories for individuals or groups that have made a significant difference for others in our community over the past year. 

Each Award is open to residents, workers and volunteers living or working in the Parish of Bovey Tracey (which includes Heathfield) who meet its nomination criteria. 

Nominations may be submitted by residents, people working in the Parish, voluntary groups, visitors, or customers who have a good experience of the nominee’s activities for the Parish. So, if you know such a candidate, why not nominate them for the appropriate award? The closing date for nominations is 28th February 2026.

The general nomination criteria for making nominations are shown below. The nomination forms for each specific Award include the qualifying details for that Award. 

Judging the winners will be made by panels of councillors and prominent community leaders. The Awards winners will be announced at the Annual Town Meeting on 23rd March 2026, further details of which will be announced by the council in due course.

YOUNG CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

This award is for a young person, or a group of young people, aged 18 or under who have made a difference to, or significant contribution to the parish over the past year. This may be individually (by overcoming personal challenges), through a team effort to support a group activity, or perhaps they have helped family, friends or other members of the wider community through their own initiative or an organised group activity.

The council does not want to define these criteria too tightly, as it believes it is up to the people of the parish to assess why their nominee justifies the nomination, and to make the case for them.

COMMUNITY CHAMPION

This special award is for someone or a group of individuals who have made a significant contribution to the parish. There are members of our community who have made extraordinary efforts to help others by going “over and above” for the benefit of the wider community.

The council does not want to define these criteria too tightly, as it believes it is up to the people of the parish to assess why their nominee justifies the nomination, and to make the case for them.

THE HONORARY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LORD OF THE MANOR OF BOVEY TRACEY

This is a special award to an individual who has given a long-term and exemplary voluntary contribution to a Group or Groups in the parish. These may be youth groups, sports clubs, charities, churches, voluntary groups, local businesses, schools or local public sector organisations. If you know such a person, please consider making a nomination, explaining how you think your candidate has improved the quality of life in Bovey Tracey parish through their long-term and continued help for others in our community. 

Background to the Lordship of the Manor of Bovey Tracey

  • The Manor of Bovey Tracey is ancient, recorded in the Domesday Book (1086). The town’s name derives from the de Tracey family, medieval lords of the manor.
  • Over centuries, the lordship passed through various noble families, and by the late 20th century, the lordship existed primarily as a historic legal title rather than a landed estate.
  • In 1984 Bovey Tracey Town Council purchased the manorial title such that Bovey Tracey Town Council is the legal holder of the Lordship of the Manor of Bovey Tracey. The title is held corporately by the Council, not by any individual councillor and the Council therefore owns the historic dignity and title associated with the manor.
  • The Honorary Representative of the Lord of the Manor of Bovey Tracey is a civic community award. It is awarded annually to recognise long-term, significant voluntary service to the community. The award may be held longer than one year, pending nomination(s) being received..
  • The award holder does not become the Lord of the Manor and does not acquire any legal rights – they are appointed as an honorary representative, acting symbolically on behalf of the Council as title-holder.
  • The title of ‘Honorary Representative of the Lord of the Manor of Bovey Tracey’ Is therefore grounded in a real legal and historical connection and is not merely a decorative or invented phrase.

                                                 

THE NOMINATION PROCESS

  1. Nominations can be submitted during the period from 20th January to 28th February 2026 inclusive, via the webform available here: https://www.boveytracey.gov.uk/Community-Award/
  2. The preferred method of making a nomination is by completing an online form.
  3. Alternatively, a printed-out form may be completed and then forwarded by email to info@boveytracey.gov.uk 
  4. For those without access to the internet who would like to submit a nomination, please contact the Town Council on 01626 834217.
  5. Completed paper forms may posted or hand-delivered to the Council at: Bovey Tracey Town Council (2026 Community Awards), Riverside Community Centre, Station Road, Bovey Tracey, TQ13 9AW.
  6. If you would like help to complete a nomination form, please ask a friend or neighbour to complete one on-line on your behalf.
  7. Each nomination must have a proposer as anonymous nominations will not be considered.
  8. Nominators may not be related to the nominee, except in the case of the Young Citizen 2026 Award.
  9. IT MUST BE SHOWN THAT NOMINEES HAVE AGREED TO BEING NOMINATED, AND NOMINATIONS FOR YOUNG PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 MUST HAVE THE APPROVAL OF A PARENT OR GURDIAN.
  10. No serving town councillor or officer/staff are eligible for nomination.
  11. In addition to the on-line nomination form, proposers are requested to describe why the nominee deserves the award.
  12. Unless agreed otherwise, all personal details given in making the nominations will remain confidential under the Town Council’s mandatory privacy regulations.

 

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