A Great Dunmow Town Award -- recognising and honouring contribution in the town and beyond -- was launched this week.

The award, a wooden plaque featuring the town's coat of arms, will be presented for the first time in May.

It is being introduced by the Dunmow 2000 committee as a practical way of bringing in the new millennium.

The award will recognise effort both inside the town and the achievements of Great Dunmow people in the wider world.

Categories will include:

Community work

Voluntary work

Contributions through commerce

Contributions through sport

Outstanding courage, including overcoming disability

Humanitarian effort

Town clerk Owen Wilson said: "This is part of our commitment to mark the millennium in as practical a way as possible.

"We aim to make this award as wide-ranging as possible to recognise and honour all sorts of Great Dunmow people who have made a contribution."

Other town council millennium projects have included the donation of a water feature to the town's day centre, a sculpture to the junior school, a bench to the infant school, and musical instruments to Helena Romanes School.

The award will be presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Lord Braybrooke, when he visits the town for the inauguration of the town mayor on May 11.

Nominations are now being sought, and details and application forms are available from the Town Clerk, Great Dunmow Town Council, Foakes House, 47 Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex CM6 1DG.

The closing date is January 31, 2000.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.