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Wiltshire's Top Villages RevealedThe final results of the 2006 Wiltshire Best Kept Village and Building Community Life competitions, organised by the Wiltshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and sponsored by Calor with additional support from the Warminster Journal, have been revealed. A total of 15 villages representing Wiltshire’s four District Councils and Swindon Borough Council were shortlisted in the District round of the Best Kept Village competition and they faced final judging visits during July in order to select overall Small, Medium and Large village winners. The results of the competition are as follows: Small Village Winner: Wilcot (Kennet District) Laurence Kitching Award: Hindon (past winners competition) Judges commented on the winning villages: “All of the overall winning villages in the Best Kept competition obviously take great pride in their appearance and residents work strongly together to maintain both the villages’ public and private buildings and spaces. It was very difficult to distinguish between the 15 participating communities because standards were so high across the board and there ended up being just a couple of marks separating the winners. Our congratulations go to Wilcot, Lea, Bratton and Hindon and also our thanks to all the villages that took part in this year’s competition and made it the tough contest it was.” 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 competition aims to get residents working together and encourage them to look at how everyone within the community is being provided for. It’s an opportunity for communities to celebrate all the positive aspects of life in their village and to address any issues or problems that become apparent following their involvement. The village of Box in the North Wiltshire district is the Building Community Life winner for Wiltshire, winning a total of £500 prize money. The village of Bromham in the Kennet District also 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. More than 40 villages representing counties across England will be competing in the competition and Bromham will initially be judged against villages from Avonside, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Somerset and Worcestershire. The winning villages in both the Best Kept Village and Building Community Life competition will be honoured at a series of village based presentation ceremonies taking place 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. For further information please contact Margaret Armand Smith, competition administrator, on 01380 722157, email wiltscpre@f2s.com
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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: For more information on the Calor Scottish Community of the Year competition: 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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