Burnham Parish Council has awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Parish to Muriel Pepler and Councillor David Pepler – the village’s first Honorary Freewoman and Honorary Freeman since introducing the award last year.
The award was agreed by the council in late July, and awarded on Saturday 9th November, coming as a great surprise to both honourees, as it was kept a secret from them until the ceremony. The ceremony was deliberately timed to coincide with a visit from representatives of Burnham’s twin town: Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel, as a significant part of both Muriel and David’s contributions to the village was through Burnham’s Twinning Association. Our French guests also participated in the Remembrance Ceremony at Burnham Park Hall on Sunday 10th November. Members of David and Muriel’s family, as well as Councillors, Council Staff, a representative of the Royal British Legion, and other members of the Twinning Association, also attended to show their appreciation of David and Muriel’s service.
Chair of the Council, Cllr Marie Hammon, said
“There has been a history of long service by the Pepler family, and David has been on our council, apart from a short break, for 50 years. He has always been a very hard working and gifted member of the council. He was also involved in the Youth Club as a Parish Council volunteer for around 30 years; and was Vice Chairman of Twinning when it was set up, taking over as Chairman. He served as Churchwarden for several years and has been Church Treasurer for at least 12 years. David’s commitment to the local community by far extends any normal term of office; his devotion to public service is second to none.”
She added:
“Muriel has quietly given a lot of her time to many local causes and charities. She is always working and sacrificing her time and efforts for the local community. One of her greatest achievements has been in setting up the Burnham Village Twinning Association in 2013. Muriel is a highly accomplished writer, and wrote a brilliant article of our twinning visit. Muriel also is writing a book about Burnham Abbey, so we can all look forward to her finished work. She is an accomplished pianist and has taught generations of children, as well as adults, through the years and is an accomplished player of the recorder. We have a great deal to be grateful for by her many talents”
She concluded that:
“Both our Freeman David and Freewoman Muriel have integrity and deep compassion that they have demonstrated through their years in Burnham. We are truly very lucky that they chose to live here with us.”
Burnham Parish Clerk Adam Killeya added “The Honorary Freedom of the Parish is the highest award that the Parish can bestow, and a recognition of truly exceptional service.
Both Muriel and David were awarded with ceremonial scrolls, and an honorary freedom badge; and everyone present sang both the British and French national anthems to celebrate the friendship and twinning relationship of Burnham and Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel.