10 THANK YOU A Great Dunmow family raised more than £23,000 at a charity auction for hospitals, which treated their son for leukaemia (October 26). The money was raised by the family of Oliver Amott who was diagnosed with the cancer in February and was tr

10 THANK YOU

A Great Dunmow family raised more than £23,000 at a charity auction for hospitals, which treated their son for leukaemia (October 26). The money was raised by the family of Oliver Amott who was diagnosed with the cancer in February and was treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

9 ESSEX CHAMPIONS

Felsted School's under-16 and under-18 hockey teams were crowned Essex Champions after an impressive run of form (October 26). The under-16s won all their games to take the title only conceding one goal on the way. The under-18 retained their title for a fourth successive year.

8 HAT'S OFF TO MAN

Felsted man Tony Brien invented a swimming safety hat to protect children if they slip on the poolside (November 2). Mr Brien, of Cock Green made LaBumpa after his daughter slipped and hurt her head on a holiday in Spain. LaBumpa, which has attracted interest from over the world and won top awards at the British Invention Show, should be available to buy in shops this year.

7 JUDO STAR

A Dunmow youngster was selected for the British National Judo squad (December 14). Helena Romanes School pupil, Charlotte Wraith, 14, will head to Sheffield for a four-day training camp in early January before heading to the Ukraine for an international competition at the end of the month.

6 DESERT DASH

A former Newport Free Grammar School pupil raised money for charity by riding 2000 miles across the Sahara Desert (December 14). Despite only passing her test last January, Louise Wood, 23, and her Finchingfield father Andrew helped raise £4,300 for the Samantha Dixon Brain Tumour Trust.

5 SOAPSTARS ON THEIR BIKES

Soap stars from Eastenders and Coronation Street help to raise tens of thousands for Dunmow charity, the Rhys Daniels Trust (June 22).

The Classic Soaps Charity Bike Ride saw 36 cyclists set off from the Rovers Return pub in Manchester to the Queen Victoria pub in Hertfordshire; a total of 183 miles.

Adam Woodyatt, Ian Beale from EastEnders and Jenny Platt Violet Wilson from Coronation Street, pictured, joined in.

The event raised £50,000, which went to the Home from Home appeal, set up by Dunmow couple Barry and Carmen Daniels, which provides accommodation for parents of sick children in hospital.

4 STAYING AFLOAT

A Dunmow swimming club will stay open thanks to an appeal in the Dunmow Broadcast & Recorder (August 10).

The Dunmow Masters swimming club had been in danger of disbanding after the number of members dropped to an unsustainable level.

But thanks to our appeal the club was able to attract new members and remain profitable at the Great Dunmow Sports Club.

3 ATLAS SURPRISE

An atlas a grandmother bought in a Thaxted charity shop for her grandson turned out to be signed by the famous Leeds team of the late 60s and early 70s (November 2).

June Derrick, 63, from Duton Hill, bought the atlas for 20p in the St John Ambulance shop and discovered the atlas had been signed by Jack Charlton and Billy Bremner among other well-known football players.

A Sotheby's football memorabilia expert said: "At the moment the atlas would be worth just under £100, but in the future it could well be worth a lot more."

2 WORLD RECORD SET

A Dunmow man was among a group of scuba divers that set a new record for diving across the English Channel to raise money for a cancer charity (August 24).

Warren Brown, 38, organised and took part in the event, which took 11 hours 55 minutes, and raised £50,000 for a testicular cancer fund.

Orchid was set up by Mr Brown's friend Colin Osborne who was diagnosed with cancer and received treatment which is not available on the NHS.

1 BEST KEPT TOWN

Great Dunmow was named as one of five winners in the Calor Best Kept Village in Essex (July 13). Dunmow was named as the winner in the class Best Kept Village in Essex.

Rayne beat off competition from Ashdon to the title 2006 Calor Calor Essex Village of the Year.

Mayor of Great Dunmow, Cllr Frank Silver, said: "I am absolutely delighted that Dunmow has won a Best Kept Village award and I look forward to further success in the coming years.