A village website run by volunteers in a David and Goliath battle to be named website of the year – competing against a star from DRAGON’S DEN.
Visit Nunney, a local site for the village in Somerset, is on the shortlist for the Good Web Guide’s Website of the Year Awards 2014.
The non-profit site is competing against big-hitters from the e-commerce world including interior designer Kelly Hoppen’s page Kellyhoppen.com, which charges £115 for a sofa throw and £63 for a set of candles. Miss Hoppen is on the panel of the hit BBC show Dragon’s Den which sees people pitch their ideas to accomplished entrepreneurs.
While Hoppen has banked millions throughout her career, the organisers of Visit Nunney plough all the cash back into activities in the village, which has a population of just 850.
Visit Nunney promotes tourism, business and the arts in the castle village of Nunney, near Frome on the border of Somerset and Wiltshire.
Adrie van der Luijt, founder and editor of VisitNunney.com, said: ‘Although Nunney has a moated 14th century castle right in the heart of the village, it is small.
‘English Heritage doesn’t charge admission and so it isn’t really promoted. In a small community you must do everything you can to keep your village shop, pub and school going. We decided to produce some posters and flyers; a website was the logical next step.’
Now Visit Nunney is through to the final round of the Good Web Guide Awards in the category News / Information Website of the Year. The site is also up for overall winner and People’s Choice, against stiff competition from the likes of Dragon’s Den’s Kelly Hoppen, leading financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown and other major corporate websites.
The Good Web Guide is the UK’s highly respected online guide to the best sites on the internet. The Good Web Guide Awards are awarded to websites for innovation and online excellence. The judging panel assesses entries on the quality of design, usability, content and product or service evident within each site put forward. They are awards for websites that engage from the start and aim to showcase that good websites don’t necessarily need a large team or big budget.
John Webb, Nunney resident and former editor of the parish newsletter, said: ‘Too many websites are dull as ditchwater and out of date. The Visit Nunney website is different. It’s fresh, lively and packed with all kinds of up to date news, pictures, useful information, reviews, fascinating and well-researched local history articles, things to do, Parish Council news, advertisements, a local calendar and loads more. It’s a real eye-opener.’
From today until 17 November the public can vote on the Good Web Guide Website for their favourite site as the People’s Choice. Adrie van der Luijt, founder and editor of Visit Nunney, said: ‘For a tiny village website to get through to the final round out of hundreds of entries is an achievement. The support we have received from the community has been tremendous, but we now need that final push. We are obviously very much the underdog, with a website run entirely by volunteers on a shoestring budget, but we relish the challenge.’
