by Alan Quick

A MAN from Cheriton Fitzpaine who has worked tirelessly for the past four years to raise tens of thousands of pounds to restore a dilapidated community hall has been recognised with a national honour.

Clive Horton-Stephens has been given a British Citizen Award for his services to the community.

The British Citizen Awards (BCAs) were launched in January 2015, to recognise exceptional individuals who work tirelessly and selflessly to make a positive impact on society.

BCAs are awarded twice annually, and recognise “everyday” people whose achievements may otherwise by overlooked.

Clive (73), has been credited with organising the support of the community of the historic village of Cheriton Fitzpaine to give its residents a parish hall they can be proud of.

After serving as treasurer on the Cheriton Fitzpaine Parish Hall Committee for a number of years, Clive had witnessed the ongoing dilapidation of the hall, which very few people wanted to use due to its poor state of repair and lack of facilities.

After exploring many unsuccessful avenues to secure its future, including Lottery funding and a land swap deal with a local land developer, the committee decided the best course of action would be to link the hall to an adjacent disused telephone exchange building to create a refurbished hall.

Clive, who was “supercharged” at the prospect, became the driving force behind the project.

He oversaw every element, from the initial architect plans and official negotiations with the planning authority, building regulations and fire officers.

He even undertook some of the building work himself wherever possible – including raising the floor level of the old telephone exchange building by three feet, using wheelbarrow loads of rubble.

Acting as the overall project manager, he also negotiated with builders, electricians, plumbers and other construction workers from within the local community to put together a team who did much of the work at reduced rates or for free. He brought the community together by encouraging retired residents to work on the build during the week, with younger and employed members of the community giving their time at weekends.

Throughout the project, Clive also took it upon himself to apply for funding whenever and wherever possible to ensure the project could continue. When the project started, the committee had just £19,000 in the bank. To date, £210,000 has been spent on the refurbishment.

Thanks to his drive and determination, the hall has been transformed from a cold, damp forbidding “shed” with no parking and very few facilities that no-one wanted to use, into a modern, fit-for-purpose building that is fully insulated and wheelchair accessible, with a main hall, committee room, new kitchen, toilets, storage space and its own car park.

Clive is one of 29 medallists who will be honoured at a prestigious ceremony on January 26, at the Palace of Westminster.

All BCA recipients have positively impacted society undertaking various activities in support of a number of causes.

Each will receive a Medal of Honour, inscribed with the words “For the Good of the Country”. Medallists are also invited to use the initials BCA after their name.

Speaking about his nomination, Clive said: “I was surprised and delighted when I found out about the award.

“We had to take the building right back to its bare timbers.

“It took four years because we did much of the work ourselves, but it was worth it as we now have a real community building at the centre of the village, which is being very well used.”

The awards are in partnership with customer experience management company, InMoment, and are supported by the world’s largest optical retailer, Specsavers; one of the largest property and leisure management, development and regeneration companies in the UK, Places for People; leading ethical law firm Irwin Mitchell; the UK and Europe’s leading palletised freight distribution company, Pall-Ex, owned by BCAs Patron Hilary Devey; and specialist marketing, PR and communications agency, Lime Marketing – who each had representatives at the assessment day and will be presenting the awards in January. 

Clive was nominated for a BCA by Maralyn Kempson and Trevor Ward.

Mr Ward said: “Clive has achieved what others could not do over the years – convert what looked like an old shed into a super community facility which many folks now love to visit.

“Thanks to Clive, we have in the heart of the village a meeting place which attracts all ages, is fully accessible, and which seeks to prevent isolation for the elderly and infirm.

“This award is a very special way of thanking him for all he has done towards creating a cohesive community.”