Sometimes the biggest difference is made by the smallest acts - a shopping run, a chat over the fence, a home-baked cottage pie left on a doorstep. Amazing Neighbours shone a light on all the quiet kindness happening across Richmond every day, so often unnoticed.

Launched in April 2024, this was our own initiative from start to finish - the first project through which we set out to prove our byline: striving to make Richmond an even better place to live and visit. Anyone in the DL10 area could nominate a neighbour who'd gone the extra mile, with a monthly £100 shopping voucher and cinema tickets for the nominator.

Nominations were judged anonymously by a panel drawn from across the town, each bringing the professional standing they held at the time: Baroness Harris of Richmond; Chris Brown, CEO of The Station; Jenna Potter, headteacher of Richmond School; Hannah Chapman, editor of the Darlington & Stockton Times; and David Walker, CIC director and chairman of the Richmondshire Refugee Support Group.

None of it would have been possible without the generosity of local businesses and organisations who underwrote the entire cost of the campaign: Cooper & Leatherbarrow Opticians, Zetland Estates, Oliviers Furniture, North Yorkshire Council, Richmond Information Centre, the Darlington & Stockton Times, Purple Creative Studio and Richmondshire Today.

The response from the community was fantastic, with nominations arriving steadily throughout the year and warm media coverage following right through to the campaign's close in December 2024 - a lovely reminder of just how much kindness there is in this town.