East Riding of Yorkshire Council Chairman's Award
In 2005 we were nominated for the 'East Riding of Yorkshire Council Chairman's Award' for 'Enhancing the Image of the East Riding of Yorkshire'. They were looking for individuals, organisations or groups, the work of who has improved the image of the County and been an encouragement to those wishing to make their home in the East Riding.
Award night
Honestly, it was like the Oscars! Claire Frisby from the TV was an excellent host and every effort had been made to ensure that all nominees could appreciate what an important award ceremony this was for the East Riding.
The tension grew throughout the evening as various other awards were made and then the moment arrived. Claire explained that this category was hotly contested and then a short clip was played in support of each short listed nominee. Ours included extracts from one of the Hayride videos along with commentary explaining the origins of the event and the good community work that has been achieved by the Village in raising money for the local branches of selected charities and highlighting that over a quarter of a million pounds has been raised by the Hayride since it started in 1967.
Gold!
We held our breath as the Chairman of the Council opened a gold envelope and then announced….. 'and the winner is……Walkington Victorian Hayride !'. There were cheers from around the room and we were completely overjoyed and brimming with pride, as, on behalf of our village, we went up on stage to accept the certificate and a lovely plaque which we hope to erect in a prominent place for all to see.
We believe that we accepted this award in recognition of the generations of Walkington Villagers, Horsemen and Supporters who have worked tirelessly all these years to bring this spectacular and unique event onto the roads of the East Riding, in doing so bringing History alive and raising invaluable funds, most notably in the fight against cancer.
We should all be very proud of this achievement and when you all see the plaque I am sure that you too will all feel a touch of the pride that Jan and I experienced that night.