Martin and Carol Dudley have left Bishopthorpe to move to Sheffield for family reasons.
Martin first became involved in Bishopthorpe village activities when he took part in the Pageant in 2000, and I and others got to know him through that.
When the Millennium celebrations ended, Martin was invited to lead the discussion at a village meeting on how the village's Millennium Fund profits should be spent. From the ideas he collected, the decision to found the Bishopthorpe Millennium Trust evolved, as did schemes for the Youth Award Scheme, village boundary signs, and improvement to land at the Main Street/Sim Balk Lane junction.
The Trust followed a policy of applying for outside funding wherever possible, using our own money as seeding. This resulted over the years in grants of approximately three times the original sum coming to the village, either indirectly via the Trust, or directly to local organisations. Public support was essential to such applications, and Martin's expertise in obtaining this through public meetings and surveys was essential to the process.
The biggest project the Trust undertook was the Crossroads scheme. Martin led this work. He stimulated public support He understood the need to employ professional designers to produce outline plans. He recruited, organised and led the volunteers who created the Sensory Garden - an aesthetic improvement to a previously nondescript site and an amenity increasingly appreciated by both residents and visitors. He worked, too, in support of the Pinfold construction, and had hoped to see the completion of the Crossroads vision. It is one of his regrets, on leaving the village, that the Millennium Funds are now exhausted, and that the Parish Council which took over the scheme has decided that at present it cannot be taken further.
Martin's work on this website has been mentioned by others. Suffice it for me to add that but for Martin's enthusiasm, expertise and hard work, the site would have expired years ago.
Martin has been an enthusiastic participant in other village activities, including the Petanque Club and the Camera Club. He was never satisfied to sit back and let others do the work.
Bishopthorpe is a pleasant place in which to live but circumstances change and if the community vegetates the quality of all our lives will deteriorate. People like Martin are needed to move us forward, and whether we realise it or not, we are indebted to them.
We are sad to have lost Martin & Carol and we wish them well in their new location. How soon shall we be looking at www.DoreandTotley.net? Stop slacking and get on with it, Dudley!
Ian Hodson
Martin first became involved in Bishopthorpe village activities when he took part in the Pageant in 2000, and I and others got to know him through that.
When the Millennium celebrations ended, Martin was invited to lead the discussion at a village meeting on how the village's Millennium Fund profits should be spent. From the ideas he collected, the decision to found the Bishopthorpe Millennium Trust evolved, as did schemes for the Youth Award Scheme, village boundary signs, and improvement to land at the Main Street/Sim Balk Lane junction.
The Trust followed a policy of applying for outside funding wherever possible, using our own money as seeding. This resulted over the years in grants of approximately three times the original sum coming to the village, either indirectly via the Trust, or directly to local organisations. Public support was essential to such applications, and Martin's expertise in obtaining this through public meetings and surveys was essential to the process.
The biggest project the Trust undertook was the Crossroads scheme. Martin led this work. He stimulated public support He understood the need to employ professional designers to produce outline plans. He recruited, organised and led the volunteers who created the Sensory Garden - an aesthetic improvement to a previously nondescript site and an amenity increasingly appreciated by both residents and visitors. He worked, too, in support of the Pinfold construction, and had hoped to see the completion of the Crossroads vision. It is one of his regrets, on leaving the village, that the Millennium Funds are now exhausted, and that the Parish Council which took over the scheme has decided that at present it cannot be taken further.
Martin's work on this website has been mentioned by others. Suffice it for me to add that but for Martin's enthusiasm, expertise and hard work, the site would have expired years ago.
Martin has been an enthusiastic participant in other village activities, including the Petanque Club and the Camera Club. He was never satisfied to sit back and let others do the work.
Bishopthorpe is a pleasant place in which to live but circumstances change and if the community vegetates the quality of all our lives will deteriorate. People like Martin are needed to move us forward, and whether we realise it or not, we are indebted to them.
We are sad to have lost Martin & Carol and we wish them well in their new location. How soon shall we be looking at www.DoreandTotley.net? Stop slacking and get on with it, Dudley!
Ian Hodson