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Search for Bucks' Best Villages Begins

Villages throughout Buckinghamshire are being given the opportunity to prove why they deserve to be recognised as one of the county’s top villages with the launch of the 2006 Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village and Village of the Year competitions.

Entry forms are now available for the competitions, which are organised by the Bucks Association of Local Councils (BALC) and sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), with additional support from Bucks County Council, Milton Keynes Council and the District Councils from Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe.

The Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village competition focuses on the community spirit highlighted through a village’s well-kept environment, and celebrates communities pulling together for the benefit of all residents. The Buckinghamshire Village of the Year competition is looking 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 Village of the Year 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).

Prizes are available to the winning villages in both competitions, including £500 prize money available 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. In addition, the overall winning village in the Village of the Year competition 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.

Competition chairman, Richard Pushman is looking forward to a good response from villages to the 2006 competitions. He commented: “The competitions in Buckinghamshire are always keenly contested and we hope that even more villages will choose to participate this year. Taking part in these competitions 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. Both the Best Kept Village and Village of the Year competitions provide an opportunity for communities to celebrate what they’ve got and to say ‘well done’ to villagers who work together to help make community projects happen.”

Further information regarding the competitions is available from the Bucks Association of Local Councils by email at balc@buckscc.gov.uk, or by telephoning 01296 383154. The deadline for entries is 28th April 2006 and judging will take place throughout May, June and July. Presentation events for the winners of both competitions will be held later in the year, with the newly appointed Lord Lieutenant, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, presenting the Best Kept Village awards.

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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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