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Suffolk's Top Villages Revealed

The overall winning villages in the 2006 Suffolk Village of the Year and Building Community Life competitions, organised by the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) have been revealed.

The Suffolk Village of the Year competition was run in partnership with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Suffolk County Council (SCC) and the six district councils. Sponsorship and prizes are being provided by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), with additional support from Adnams, Notcutts, SCC and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. A total of eight villages were put through to the final round of the competition via the district stages and the final results were decided following judging visits during July and August. The results of the competition are as follows –

Suffolk Village of the Year: Stowupland (receives £1,000 prize money, commemorative plaque, Calor certificate, plants from Nottcutts and a firkin of beer from Adnams)

Runner Up: Polstead (receives £450 prize money and a Calor certificate)

3rd Place: Barton Mills (receives £250 prize money and a Calor certificate)

4th Place: Sproughton (receives £150 prize money and a Calor certificate)

Suffolk County Council Public Space Award: Stowupland (receives £100 prize money)

Suffolk Wildlife Trust Award: Sproughton (receives £100 prize money and certificate)

Parish Council Award: Walsham le Willows (receives handmade gavel and certificate)

Rachel Sloane from Radio Suffolk who judged the final round of the Suffolk Village of the Year competition commented: “Choosing the Calor Suffolk Village of the Year 2006 was very hard as all the finalists are obviously very much loved by locals. In the end I chose Stowupland, partly because the Parish Council has gone to great efforts to canvas the views of villagers with a wide ranging survey. They have quickly taken comments on board and have acted on them, for example the desire of local people to make use of their open greens for social events which are being organised with great success. The involvement of younger residents is valued and the big achievement is to make a large widely spread population feel like a village.”

As the 2006 Calor Suffolk Village of the Year, Stowupland has 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 prize fund totalling more than £39,000. Stowupland will initially be competing in the East England region of the competition, against villages representing Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk.

The Building Community Life competition is being run in every county in England as part of the Calor Village of the Year® competition or as a stand alone competition thanks to support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The Building Community Life entry form consists of questions covering many aspects of a village’s community life and the entry questions are designed to be thought provoking and encourage applicants to think about their village. Thanks to Defra’s support, a total of £500 prize money was on offer to winning villages in Suffolk’s competition. The results of this competition are as follows –

Joint Winners: Stowupland (receives £250 prize money and certificate)
Lavenham (receives £250 prize money and certificate)

The winning villages in both competitions will be presented with their prizes at an awards presentation to be held during October. For further information regarding the competitions, including a full list of entrants, please contact Cllr Rona Burt on 01638 712309, email ronabulldog@aol.com.

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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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