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Eight Villages Battle For County Title

A total of eight communities are participating in the 2006 Calor Cambridgeshire Village of the Year competition and villagers wait in anticipation as their submissions are marked and they prepare for a visit from competition judges between Wednesday 5th and Friday 7th July.

The competition is organised by Cambridgeshire ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) and sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). The eight villages participating are as follows –
Little Paxton, Abbotsley, Parson Drove, Orwell, Ramsey Forty Foot, Fulbourn, Haslingfield and Lolworth.

Competition organiser on behalf of Cambridgeshire ACRE, Julie Weekes, commented: “The villages are being judged on six aspects of village life: Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT), and our judges are looking for supportive and caring communities which do their best to enhance the quality of life for residents. The village visits will be an opportunity for the communities to highlight their achievements to our judges and to prove why they deserve to win one of the prizes on offer.”

The winning villages will be revealed at a prize giving on Tuesday 5th September. Prizes are on offer to the winning villages including £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. There is also a Special Project Award which is sponsored by the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England).

In addition to gaining the prestigious title of 2006 Calor Cambridgeshire Village of the Year, the overall winning village will have the 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.

Julie Weekes added: “I would like to take this opportunity to wish all eight participating villages the best of luck and also thank them for the time and effort they have put into their entries. Whether they go on to win prizes or not they have all done very well and are great examples of excellent villages we have here in Cambridgeshire.”

For further information regarding the Calor Cambridgeshire Village of the Year competition please contact Julie Weekes at Cambridgeshire ACRE on 01353 860850, email julie.weekes@cambsacre.org.uk.

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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 Cambridgeshire Village of the Year

1 The CALOR Village of the Year® competition can act as a catalyst for strengthening rural communities. Simply taking part can bring people together, including some of those who may not previously have been motivated to get involved.

Entering the competition gives communities a rare opportunity to review their activities and to celebrate shared successes.

2 The main competition looks at a number of key categories covering aspects of village life in the 21st century - Building Community Life; Business; Young People; Older People; Environment; Information Communications Technology.

An optional Special Project Award is also given. Villages can enter this category without entering the main competition.

3 The competition is organised in Cambridgeshire by Cllr Hazel Williams, who is Deputy Chair of Cambridgeshire ACRE. Judges will include representatives from the Cambridgeshire ACRE board of trustees, and CPRE.

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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