Good Spirit Puts Village
at the Top

By Julian Dancer

A Village website has been voted best in the UK for 2003.

www.helmdon.com collected the award for its content and community spirit and beat off challenges from better designed and technically more advanced sites.

The competition, run by UK Villages Online, involved thousands of village websites and the organizers narrowed the contest down to 12 finalists by choosing the monthly winners.

Helmdon was the March 2002 victor and qualified for this year's final.

The result was announced last week.

Helmdon webmaster Danny Moody said: "Many people in the village have contributed to the site by donating photographs or writing reports of activities. The web site is valued by people all over the world who have an interest in Helmdon."

He said: "When we started the website three years ago, we had no idea it would go this far. We were competing against villages with 7,000-plus residents, whereas Helmdon has just 950. All the websites in the final were excellent, and it is pleasing to have come out on top."

UK Villages Online is the first site in the world dedicated to village websites.

Founded in 1995, it helps villages set up their own websites.

UK Village Online's website is www.rural.co.uk.

Banbury Cake - 1st May 2003