Search for 2006 Calor Hampshire Village of the Year Begins:
‘Love Your Village’
Do you want to lead the way in establishing your village as a role model for others? Does your village buzz with community spirit? Are you proud of what your village offers residents and visitors alike? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’ then you should consider entering your community in the 2006 Hampshire Village of the Year competition.
The competition, organised by the Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils and sponsored by Calor in association with Defra, and with additional support from Hampshire’s district councils; looks 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 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).
Information has been sent out to parish councils and community organisations throughout the county encouraging them to take part. All villages with a population of 6,000 and under are eligible to enter and entries are invited from any community group – it doesn’t have to be through the parish council. Cash prizes of £400 and £200 are on offer to the overall winner and runner up respectively. In addition there is £500 prize money 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) at both county and national level. This will be split between a winner, which will receive £300, and a runner up, which will receive £200. There is also an award of £100 for the Best Small Village (population 500 and under), and a schools’ poster competition with a prize of £100 for the winning poster, which will also be used to promote the county competition next year.
New for 2006 is an added element to the competition at district level. A winning village in each of Hampshire’s seven districts will be selected and will receive a plaque. The following four District and Borough Councils are joint competition sponsors for their own areas; Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council, East Hampshire District Council, Test Valley District Council and Winchester County Council.
The overall winning village and 2006 Hampshire Village of the Year 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.
County Competition organiser on behalf of the Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils, Steven Lugg, commented: “This is 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. If you enter your community you will have the opportunity to highlight and celebrate what has been achieved in your village, both within the community and to a wider audience. Getting together for an activity such as this can also be a great way of reinvigorating the community, and may even prompt you to look at ways in which your community can be further enhanced. I can’t stress enough what a positive activity entering the competition can be, and I want as many villages to benefit as possible.”
Entries to the competition are invited from all villages in Hampshire with an electoral population of less than 6,000. For further information and entry forms please contact Steven Lugg on 01962 841699, email steven.lugg@hants.gov.uk. The deadline for entries is 31st May with judging taking place during June and July. Presentations to winners will take place at the Association’s AGM in October 2006.
- ends -
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
 Click here to download this press release in Word format
|
