Geoff named in Queen's Birthday Honours 2022 for dedicated service to community of Badby

A bellringer from Badby has been recognised for his years of devotion and dedication to the community.

Geoff Pullin, the Badby correspondent for the Daventry Express, was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2022.

In tribute to The Queen, recipients have been awarded for their outstanding contributions across all sectors, but in particular for sustained public service, the environment and sustainability, and youth engagement.

Richard Piner put forward the nomination on behalf of the people living in Badby.

It said: “When Geoff Pullin moved to the village of Badby in Northamptonshire in the 1970s, he quickly took the opportunity of practising his lifelong passion for bell-ringing by becoming the bell-ringing tower captain of the village church. He also started to teach others to ring, both in the village and locally. His infectious enthusiasm as well as inexhaustible patience led him to successfully train around 150 ringers over the years as well as helping countless other to improve.

“Since then and to date he’s run regular weekly practices in numerous other church towers, had spells as chairman of the Daventry branch of bell-ringers and president of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of ringers where his drive and enthusiasm have influenced ringing in the whole of Northamptonshire.

“From 1990 and for many years after that he was responsible for organising Badby Fayre which takes over the village for an afternoon every two years and raises money for the church. He was also chairman of the local horticultural society for several years during this time. He has also been the press correspondent for the village as well as local bell-ringing groups. A history of Badby church written by Geoff is now in its third edition.

“Geoff has been involved in three major projects in the last 15 years. In 2008 he visited family living in Barrow-in-Furness and was disappointed to hear from local ringers that the bells of the church of St James the Great, the largest place of worship in Barrow and the only church with bells, were in a poor state of repair and could not be rung.

“At a distance of 200 miles Geoff undertook the fundraising and project management required to get the bells restored.

“Geoff had been working hard to get diocesan approval for another large scale project, a major renovation of the inside of Badby church involving replacing the internal flooring and creating a multi-use internal area that would transform the church into a bright, airy environment. Geoff was responsible for sourcing grants towards a total cost of around £140,000 and again his drive and persuasive enthusiasm saw the project through to a successful completion in 2018.

“Although Geoff is now into his 83rd year he has recently completed the fundraising and project management for yet another major project. This was to replace the Badby church roof.

“Geoff has given years of service to the village and the church in particular where he has been Captain of the Bell Tower for very many years as well as overseeing two recent large Church Restoration projects to Badby Church including securing funds from The Lottery and other Church Charities.”