Two Somersham groups share �3,000 community challenge prize

TWO groups in Somersham will have their dreams to revitalise the village realised after they each won �1,500.

Somersham Town Band and Somersham Nature Reserve Group were picked as joint winners of the Community Challenge Prize, run by Cambridgeshire ACRE, after judges could not separate them.

A community orchard will be planted at the back of the nature reserve, and the band is looking to recruit young members.

Entries flooded in with ideas from groups to improve the village or the lives of villagers after the competition was opened in August last year.

Rachael Brown, community development manager at Cambridgeshire ACRE, said: “After scoring the entrants on their community benefits, there was no difference between the winners and the judges were torn - they didn’t want to blow one of them away - so both won.

“We felt the orchard will encourage visitors through the nature reserve and to help the band attract more young people from the village, not just ones dotted around the area. It’s a great feeling to support both these schemes.”

Lily Steward, 14, and Joy Ayres, 13, won the Pidley competition to create a playground within the village to provide a social point for young people to meet and play.