The Wellcome Trust Conference Centre has been awarded a prize for their work to engage with local communities, including the villages of Hinxton and Ickleton, on projects and initiatives at the Genome Campus.
The Conference Centre received the Business in the Community award at the annual Conference Centres of Excellence awards. This award is presented annually to a venue that can demonstrate how they lead the way in engaging with the local community, and making a difference to the local environment for the benefit of people living in surrounding areas.
The Conference Centres of Excellence is the UK’s leading sales and marketing consortium of specialist venues for meeting, training and business events. The awards recognise excellence from within the Conference Centres of Excellence membership.
“We’re thrilled to be recognised for our work with the neighbouring communities in Cambridgeshire,” says Linda Prior, Conference Centre Sales and Marketing Manager. “Working with the local people in communities such as Hinxton, Ickleton and Great Chesterford has always been important to us. We want to maintain our symbiotic relationship where we can work together to improve the campus as well as the local area.”
The Wellcome Trust Conference Centre and the Genome Campus staff engage with local communities in new initiatives that they develop. Every three months, campus employees meet with the local Parish Councils of Hinxton, Ickleton, and Great Chesterford. These meetings allow local residents to raise any concerns they may have and gives campus staff the opportunity to discuss plans for potential building works.
Campus staff and the people from the local communities work together to maintain the nature reserve between the campus and Ickleton village. This work includes a range of activities; removing weeds such as Himalayan Balsam, maintaining the river, bird watching and otter trails. Local residents are also invited to events on campus, such as annual fireworks displays and environmental days
The village of Hinxton has the DNA helix on its village sign demonstrating the strong relationship between the campus and the local community.
“This is a wonderful achievement for the campus that would not have been possible without the help of our local communities,” says David Davison, Campus Director of the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus.
Photo: Conference Centre staff with the award. (From left to right: Sarah Okyere – Event Sales Coordinator, Kelly Toombs – Event Sales Coordinator, Nigel Whitham – Operations Manager, Linda Prior – Sales & Marketing Manager, Kat Fairhurst – Event Sales Coordinator)