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Launch of Calor Berkshire Village of the Year 2006

If your village has 5,000 residents or under and you believe it to be a special, caring and vibrant community then you should consider entering the 2006 Calor Berkshire Village of the Year competition which is currently getting underway.

Entry forms are now available for the competition, which is organised by the Community Council for Berkshire (CCB) and sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Judges are not looking for the perfect village, they want to see 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 competition judges communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

This is the fifth year that CCB has run the competition and with a newly simplified entry form this year, competition organiser, Mo Brickwood, is hopeful that as many villages as possible will give the competition a go. She commented: “It takes just 15 minutes approximately to complete the entry form and entries are welcome from any organisation in a community - it doesn’t have to be the Parish Council that takes the lead. Taking part in this competition is a wonderful way of celebrating and promoting all that is positive about where you live. It’s not a competition about perfect villages – it’s about communities working hard to make life for residents as good as it can be, in whatever ways possible. Completing the entry form can also be a very useful exercise if you are interested in ‘health checking’ your community, or if you are thinking about or in the process of completing a Parish Plan. I can’t stress enough what a positive activity entering the competition can be, and I want as many villages to benefit as possible.”

All villages with a population of 5,000 and under are eligible to enter. Prizes are on offer to the winning villages, including a total of £750 specifically for the Building Community Life category, which has been made available thanks to continued competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) for this category at both county and national level. There is also a prize of £100 in each of the other five categories and all winning villages will receive a commemorative plaque. The overall winning 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 £36,000 prize fund.

For further information and entry forms please contact Mo Brickwood, Calor Berkshire Village of the Year organiser, The Community Council for Berkshire, Epping House, 55 Russell Street, Reading RG1 7XG, telephone 01635 248494, email brick.wood@virgin.net. Entry forms can also be downloaded from CCB’s website at www.ccberks.org.uk. The closing date for entries is May 19th and judging will take place during June and July. The winning villages will be announced at a presentation event to be held during September.

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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

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 £36,000. First prize is £6,000 with £1,500 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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