Appointment of Honorary Freeman / Freewoman of Woodbridge

Nomination form for the appointment of Honorary Freeman or Freewoman of Woodbridge

From time to time, members of the community demonstrate outstanding commitment and contribution to the wellbeing of the Town and it is recognised that their efforts should be acknowledged. Woodbridge Town Council (WTC) will do this by awarding to an individual the title of 'Honorary Freeman or Honorary Freewoman of Woodbridge'. 

Nomination Criteria

The following will be taken into account when consideration is given to granting the honour of Honorary Freeman or Honorary Freewoman of the Town:

A - To be considered, a person must have been a resident of the Parish of Woodbridge or a neighbouring parish (Great Bealings, Hasketon, Martlesham, Melton or Sutton) for a minimum of 10 years and must have given continuous voluntary service over 5 years. He/she must have given special service ('special' defined as having given service of themselves to the Town in their own particular way).

             

B - A current serving member of a Local Authority cannot be nominated. The following criteria must be met to nominate a past member of WTC. The nominee must have served a minimum of 8 years (two terms) on WTC. During the 8-year period the nominee must have served as either Mayor, Deputy Mayor, or as Chair or Vice Chair of a Council Committee.

C - Preference will be given to a person who performs in a voluntary capacity, but this should not preclude the honour being awarded to a person whose dedication and contribution is significantly above that expected from their occupation.

D - The contribution to the wellbeing of the community must involve one or more of the following factors:-

i.          A significant allocation of the person's time in serving members of the community for the improvement of their wellbeing.

ii.         The promotion, achievement and/or delivery of community services in which a real personal contribution has been made.

iii.        Whilst difficult to define, the contribution must be outstanding in that it can be seen to stand above the contributions of most other persons.

Nomination Procedure

A - Nominations must be made in the strictest confidence without the nominee’s knowledge. Any resident or elector of the parish of Woodbridge or its neighbouring parishes may make a nomination.

B - Nominations must be made in writing (email or post) to the Town Clerk. The submission should be evidence-based by outlining the voluntary service provided by the individual to the community and any other examples of ‘community spirit’ to justify the honour. On receipt of a nomination, it will be circulated to all Councillors for confidential consideration as part of the meeting papers.

C - Councillors will consider nominations confidentially at a full Town Council meeting. The two-round system (also known as the second ballot, runoff voting or ballotage) is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes (an absolute majority), then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting occurs. The Town Mayor is provided with a casting vote to break any deadlock.

D – WTC are not entitled to approve any nominations if it does not consider suitable the applications received.

Entitlements

Any person declared an Honorary Freeman or Honorary Freewoman of the Town may designate himself/herself ‘Honorary Freeman or Freewoman of Woodbridge’.

The award shall be made at a Town Council meeting and a scroll and medal will be presented to the recipient.

The recipient will have their name added to the role of honour held at the Shire Hall and will be entitled to receive formal invitations to all Town Council events. 

Limitation on Holders of Award

At any one time, a maximum of twelve persons may hold the title ‘Honorary Freeman (or Freewoman) of Woodbridge’.

Woodbridge Town Council reserve the right to remove persons awarded the title Honorary Freeman or Freewoman if past transgressions are revealed, or new transgressions are discovered.

Once a vacancy has been filled and the titled awarded, the Council will not hold a waiting list for those nominees who were not selected. A new round of nominations and voting will be required to fill the next available vacancy.