We’re delighted to say that on a chilly Tuesday night on 7th March, Wymondham Magazine won the award for ‘Business Supporting the Community’ at the Broadland & South Norfolk Business Awards.

The town’s publication came top of a shortlist of three finalists in a category that looks for companies that have had a measurable positive impact on the local community.

Judges from sponsors InTouch Systems Ltd said they had been very impressed by the young team behind the magazine, who are helping, supporting and bringing together different parts of the local community. They also praised Wymondham Magazine for “shining a light on positive stories and modernising their approach to journalism with the platforms they employ to reach a broad audience”.

Collecting the award, editor Kim Carsok said: “Wymondham Magazine works because it’s a true community collaboration, between our superb contributors, the businesses that advertise and well… us, who organise the whole thing and put it all together!”

The prize comes just 10 months after owners MYOB Digital Ltd, whose main business is a comparison website, took on the magazine from its former owner, who had moved to France. The intermittent months have seen the publication become self-funding, exclusively thanks to its advertisers, receiving no subsidy from Wymondham Town Council, as it previously had. It is also now printed every two months, instead of quarterly.

Magazine designer and contributor Jimmy Young said: “Honestly speaking, we’ve probably dedicated more of our company and personal time and resources into Wymondham Magazine than any rational person should! But we love doing it. It’s hugely satisfying providing a platform for all our community to speak from and reach the whole town. To get an award for it is the cherry on top.”

It was also a good night for Wymondham Magazine’s printers, Barnwell Print, who are based just outside Aylsham. The company won out in the Environmental Innovation category, with judges from the University of East Anglia praising Barnwell’s “holistic dedication to sustainability across all aspects of the business and their implementation of the carbon-reduction strategy”.

And it was delight for Church Farm Shop in Hethersett too, who won South Norfolk Retailer of The Year. The grocer had impressed the panel by stocking almost exclusively local produce, offering a home delivery service and recycling nearly 100% of waste product via an online recipe service.

Other businesses with a Wymondham connection attending the awards evening included: Hemstock’s Jewellers (finalists in the Business Collaboration category), The Orange Grove Clinic (Finalist in the Business Resilience category) and the Wymondham Garden Centre (representing their sister shop Aylsham Garden Centre in the Broadland Retailer of the Year category).

A special shoutout to Fetch Dog Walking & Training, who won highly commended in our category and whom we had the pleasure of sitting with at our table on the awards night!