A VILLAGE near Andover has been recognised as the county’s Small Village of the Year for 2019.

The award is organised by the Hampshire Association of Local Councils, with support from Fuller's Brewery. And Thruxton recently scooped the honour after impressing judges and pipping second-place Overton to win the award.

A joint application was put forward by the Thruxton Village Association and trustees from the Thruxton War Memorial Hall.

One thing that helped the team stand out from the rest was the extent of the village’s fundraising efforts.

Kate Christie, chair of the trustees at the War Memorial Hall, said: “I am immensely proud that we can honestly say that the village has raised over £17,000 for charity.

“And we’ve only got 600 residents!”

As part of the application, judges were invited to the village to find out more about why Thruxton was deserving of being named Small Village of the Year.

Kate added: “They came down in the summer at very short notice and we put together a presentation. We had an hour and we got a few people from the village to talk about the kind of things we do.”

Those things include the village’s Community Club, featuring regular tea and other social meet-ups, plus it’s yearly Remembrance Sunday lunch and the annual Thruxton summer fete, just to name a few.

As well as the thousands of pounds that the village gives to charity, Kate says a small amount is also “ploughed” back into the village.

But the team’s work is far from done.

Kate says the Village Association and War Memorial Hall trustees are working hard to ensure even more residents are involved in village life.

She added: “We very much want to do more for the kids in the village and we need to make sure everybody in the village is there for them.

“We are even more determined to become even more inclusive than we already are.”

Part of that plan is a surprise Christmas event that is currently being planned, the details of which will be announced in due course.

For more information about Thruxton and what is going on in the village go to www.thruxtonvillage.com