Press Archive

Eddleston village website is commended at Calor Scottish Community of the Year Awards

The Eddleston village website, www.eddleston.org.uk, has received commendation in the Community Enhancement through the Internet category of the Calor Scottish Community of the Year Awards 2005.
Representatives from the borders community received the award at a ceremony held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) and attended by Communities Minister, Malcolm Chisholm MSP, today, Thursday 8 December.

Introduced as a function to maintain the village’s community spirit after the loss of the village shop and post office, the Eddleston website is managed on a day to day basis by a volunteer sub committee of the community council. The site has identified and tailored the content to suit its target audience of residents, tourists and newcomers to the village in attempt to bring people together and foster new relationships.

Of the twenty-six short-listed communities represented at the event, twelve were finalists for the separate internet category, coming from as far a field as Orkney, the Western Isles, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Now in their eighth year, the awards encompass every aspect of Scottish life, providing communities with an opportunity to gain recognition and reward for its efforts. Their aim is to stimulate local people to take responsibility for their communities and enhance them for common good.

In determining the outcome of the awards, the judges sought best practices within community groups, which could be used as examples to others throughout Scotland.

“All twelve of this year’s finalist has demonstrated exceptional community focus, with a number enjoying active discussion forums and inclusion,” comments Dr Douglas Cruickshank, Community Enhancement through the Internet judge and course leader for MSc in e-Business at The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.
“The emphasis of this award is firmly on how communities use the Internet to improve local communication and promote community life. Most importantly the sites have to be accessible and easy to navigate rather than focussing on clever design techniques.

“The Internet has had a profound effect on how we locate information and a remarkable number of Scottish communities have capitalised on these opportunities to promote interactivity and community spirit. This has been successfully demonstrated by the Eddleston site in its attempt to supplement traditional hubs for community interaction.” continues Dr Douglas Cruickshank.

Since launching in 1998 the awards, which are supported by Calor Scotland in association with Communities Scotland and backed by The Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC), The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Business in the Community (SBC) and The Robert Gordon University (RGU), have been entered by more than a third of all Scottish communities from the Borders to Shetland, as well as all the country’s major urban areas.

The award’s categories include environment, business, younger people, older people and community life, as well as a stand-alone award for community websites. Judging the awards were representatives of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Business in the Community (SBC), Communities Scotland, the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) and The Robert Gordon University and a Community Council Support Officer for a local authority.

For further information regarding the awards visit www.communityoftheyear.org.uk

December 06 , 2005

Notes to editors:

Full lists of winners, highly commended and commended communities, are available on the Community of the Year website at www.communityoftheyear.org.uk
Photographs are available on request from

Ashley Ross
The PR Partnership
tel 01224 588900
Ashley@prpartnership.co.uk

For further information and pictures contact:
Ashley Ross
Awards Co-ordinator
tel 01224 588900
e-mail ashley@prpartnership.co.uk Ashley@prpartnership.co.uk

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