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69 Villages Contest 2006 Best Kept Village and Building Community Life Competition

A total of 69 villages representing Wiltshire’s four District Councils and Swindon Borough Council have entered the 2006 Wiltshire Best Kept Village and Building Community Life competition.

The competition is organised by the Wiltshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), with additional support from the Warminster Journal. Entries break down into a total of 17 from Kennet, 19 from the North Wilts District, 12 from the South Wilts District, 18 from the West Wilts District and three in the Swindon Borough Council area. (For a full list of participating villages please refer below).

Judging on the district level will take place during May and June in order to select a Small, Medium and Large winner for each district. These villages will then go forward for further judging at county level in order to find the overall Small, Medium and Large winning villages for Wiltshire. The results of the competition will be announced on August 1st and presentation ceremonies will take place in the county winning villages on Sunday 1st October when the president of the Wiltshire Branch of the CPRE, the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, MR J Bush OBE, will be in attendance.

Prizes are on offer to the winning villages, including £500 specifically for the Building Community Life element of the competition, which has been made available thanks to continued competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) at both county and national level. One village will have the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent the county in the prestigious Calor Village of the Year^® for England competition, with the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share of the £39,000 prize fund.

Branch Chairman of Wiltshire CPRE, George McDonic, commented: “We are extremely pleased with the response we’ve had from villages this year. Standards are always very good from Wiltshire’s villages and we are sure this year will be no exception. It is particularly pleasing to see ten new villages taking part in the competition as well as a number of villages that have not participated for a number of years. We must now hand over to our judges who will have the difficult task of selecting the district winners ready for the county round later in the year.”

For further information please contact Margaret Armand Smith, competition administrator, on 01380 722157, email wiltscpre@f2s.com.

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Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR, a Connectpoint Company
tel: 01223 845781 (direct) / 0161 817 4200 (main office)
email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk

Villages participating in the 2006 Wiltshire Best Kept Village and Building Community Life competition are as follows :

Notes to Editors:

Calor Village of the Year^®

Calor, the leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) to those living and working in the countryside, has supported rural activities in England, Scotland and Wales for 20 years through its Rural Sponsorship programme, which includes the Calor Village of the Year^® for England and Wales competitions and the Calor Scottish Community of the Year competition.

The Calor Village of the Year^® for England competition, now in its tenth year, was founded and developed by Calor, and is organised and funded by the company on an annual basis.

Please note that Calor Village of the Year^® is a registered trademark and should be referred to in full in all circumstances.

Entry to the Calor Village of the Year^® for England competition is through the existing county competition network.

Following competition support in 2005, Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is once again providing Calor with additional funding in 2006 to enhance the community life element of the competition through the Building Community Life category. Defra’s special aim is to encourage the inclusion of all groups and individuals into the fabric of rural community life - building cohesive and mutually supportive communities. Defra’s involvement means that every village in England has the opportunity to enter the 2006 Calor Village of the Year^® for England competition.

The national Calor Village of the Year^® judges look for well-balanced, pro-active, caring communities which, irrespective of size, have made the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all residents.

The prize money for the national Calor Village of the Year^® for England competition alone stands at over £39,000. First prize is £7,000 with £2,000 going to each of five regional winners. In addition, there are five category prizes of £500 within each region (covering Business, Environment, Care for Older People, Care for Young People and Information Communications Technology), and a prize of £750 for the winner of the Building Community Life category in each of the five regions. The five regional winners of the Information Communication Technology category are judged to find an overall winner, the award for which is £1,000. There is also, thanks to the Defra support, a prize of £2,000 for an overall Building Community Life winner, which is selected from the five regional winners.

For general information on the Calor Village of the Year^® for England and Wales competitions:

email: info@calorvillageoftheyear.org, tel: 01962 629768, or visit: www.calorvillageoftheyear.org

For more information on the Calor Scottish Community of the Year competition:

visit: www.communityoftheyear.co.uk

For more information on Defra:

visit: www.defra.gov.uk or for information specific to rural affairs visit: www.defra.gov.uk/rural/default.htm

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