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Calor Hampshire Village of the Year Winners Revealed

The winning villages in the 2006 Calor Hampshire Village of the Year competition have been revealed.

A total of 10 communities were shortlisted for prizes in the competition, which is organised by the Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils (HAPTC) and sponsored by Calor in association with Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), with additional support from Hampshire’s district councils. 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 Selborne has been revealed as the overall winner of the competition, gaining the prestigious title of 2006 Calor Hampshire Village of the Year and £400 prize money. The full results of the competition are as follows:

Hampshire Village of the Year: Winner Selborne (£400 prize)
Runner up South Warnborough (£250 prize)
Highly Commended Cheriton

Building Community Life Winner: South Warnborough (£300) (prize money provided by Defra)
Runner up Ashurst & Colbury (£200)
Highly Commended Sherfield English

District Winners Test Valley Sherfield (all winners to receive a Winchester Cheriton commemorative plaque)
East Hants Selborne
Hart South Warnborough
New Forest Ashurst & Colbury

Best Small Village Greywell (£100 prize)

Competition judges commented: “It has been a privilege to visit our villages this year, the amount of activity and self-support in the villages that entered has been simply uplifting. All entrants should be congratulated. In particular Sherfield English are an 'up and coming village', and potential future winners."

Competition organiser on behalf of HAPTC, Steven Lugg added: “As reserve Judge, I had the pleasure to visit one village - Ashurst and Colbury. Whilst this village did not win, I was absolutely astounded by the range of connections, the level of commitment and the diversity of partnerships demonstrated by residents - a pure delight to visit and in no way a duty!"

As the 2006 Calor Hampshire Village of the Year, Selborne has the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent Hampshire 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. Selborne will initially be representing the county in the South England region of the competition against villages from Dorset, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Sussex (East) and Sussex (West).

For further information regarding the Calor Hampshire Village of the Year competition please contact Steven Lugg on 01962 841699, email steven.lugg@hants.gov.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:

The prize presentations for the 2006 Calor Hampshire Village of the Year competition will be made on Saturday 7th October at HAPTC’s AGM which is taking place at INTECH, near Winchester. Press and photographers will be welcome to attend this event and should contact Steven Lugg on 01962 841699 for further detail.

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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