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Calor Derbyshire Village of the Year Winners Revealed

The winning villages in the 2006 Calor Derbyshire Village of the Year competition have been revealed at a presentation event held on Wednesday 16th August at Ashover Village Hall.

A total of 13 communities were in line for prizes in the competition, which is organised by Derbyshire Rural Community Council (DRCC) and sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). The competition judged communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

The village of Creswell in the Bolsover district of the county has been announced as the overall winner, gaining the prestigious title of 2006 Calor Derbyshire Village of the Year and £350 prize money. The category results of the competition are as follows –

Building Community Life

Winner: Elton Runner Up: Creswell

Business

Winner: Breaston Runner Up: Creswell

Young People

Winner: Creswell Joint Runners Up: Elton, Tansley

Older People

Winner: Tideswell Runner Up: Elton

Environment

Joint Winners: Creswell, Elton

Information Communication Technology

Winner: Hayfield

Jill Naylor of competition sponsor Calor presented the winning communities with their prizes which included framed commemorative certificates. There was also £500 specifically for the Building Community Life category which was made available thanks to continued support for this section of the competition at both county and national level from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). This was split between the winner, Elton, which received £300 and the runner up, Creswell, which received £200 and was presented by Ann Halliday of the Government Office for the East Midlands.

Competition organiser on behalf of DRCC, Chris Adlington, commented: “Our congratulations go to all the winning villages in this year’s competition. Standards were very high and our judges had a particularly difficult job selecting the winners. It was great being able to celebrate with representatives of the winning communities at the awards evening and I would also like to thank the leaders of the county’s districts for attending.”

As the 2006 Calor Derbyshire Village of the Year, Creswell has the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent Derbyshire in the prestigious national Calor Village of the Year® for England competition. More than 40 villages across England will be competing in the competition, which has a total prize fund of over £39,000 and a top prize of £7,000. Creswell will initially be representing the county in the Central England region of the competition against villages from Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

Chris Adlington added: “We wish Creswell the best of luck with the next stage of the competition. It’s a fantastic community that has pulled itself up from the devastation of the mine closures in the 80’s and we’re sure they’ve got what it takes to do really well at national level. Creswell’s success will hopefully highlight to any of the county’s villages that we’re not looking for ‘pretty’ villages but hard working, thriving communities.”

For further information regarding the Calor Derbyshire Village of the Year competition please contact Chris Adlington at ann@adlington35.freeserve.co.uk or DRCC on 01629 824797, email drcc@derbysrcc.org.uk.

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Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR, a Connectpoint Company
tel: 0161 817 4200 / email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk

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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