Alan – front row, 5th from leftWe are delighted that one of our Board members, Alan Bannister, was among the winners of the 2024 “Pride in Ilfracombe” awards. These awards are given by Ilfracombe Town Council to citizens who have made an outstanding contribution to their community through voluntary efforts. This year they were presented at the Carlton Hotel on 10 October by Deputy Mayor Mark Fay and our MP, Ian Roome.
The list of things Alan does is endless but amongst them he runs websites for several community organisations, including our own.
Alan was a long-term member of the Lee Memorial Hall committee and is active in the Lee and Lincombe Residents Association. He has also carried out an invaluable liaison role between residents and the developers and builders of the Lee Hotel site.
He organises the Agnostics Anonymous group which meets in The Grampus pub in Lee, encouraging positive discussion around thought-provoking topics.
Alan is also a long-standing member of the Combe Coastal Practive Patient Participation Group which meets several times a year to hear representation and feedback from patient representatives who make up the group and to inform them of new developments.
Alan is a fantastic advocate for the importance of fine detail, which is invaluable in many of the roles he carries out.
Later in the evening Alan was awarded a further honour: in recognition of the wide-ranging contribution he has made to his community, he was also declared “Citizen of the Year''.
Alan with Deputy Mayor of Ilfracombe Mark Fay and Member of Parliament for North Devon Ian Roome
Alan's wife Margaret accompanied him to the ceremony to see him given both awards. Alan was bowled over, and both he and Margaret were so proud. Alan gave a speech in which he quoted John Wesley as the mantra by which to live your life:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
… a wonderful summary of Alan's contribution to the improvement of his community.
(This article was written without any input from Alan, who is far too modest to have mentioned it.)