Villages Vie for County Titles

The villages competing in the 2006 Calor Warwickshire Best Kept Village and Village of the Year competitions, run by Warwickshire Rural Community Council (WRCC) and sponsored by Calor, have been revealed. A total of 70 communities are taking part this year in one or both competitions and now wait in anticipation as judging takes place throughout the summer months.

The Warwickshire Best Kept Village competition, which separates communities into Small and Large categories, is being contested by 82 villages. They will be judged on a district level to begin with villages from each district then being selected to go forward to the county round in order to find an overall small and large winner. This competition, which also incorporates the Best Kept Churchyard competition, encourages communities to work together to keep their surroundings tidy and well maintained. (For a full list of participating villages please refer below.)

The Warwickshire Village of the Year competition judges villages of up to 5,000 residents on six key aspects of village life. Categories cover Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT). There are 12 villages competing in this competition –

Barton on the Heath, Bidford on Avon, Bishops Itchington, Bubbenhall, Great Alne, Hampton Lucy, Middleton, Offchurch, Radway, Studley, Shustoke and Wolvey.

Competition organiser on behalf of WRCC, Alison Chappell, commented: “We are extremely pleased with the response we’ve had from villages this year. Standards are always very good from Warwickshire’s villages and we are sure this year will be no exception. Whether they go on to win prizes or not, they’ve all done very well and I would like to thank the communities for their hard work and commitment in putting together their entries.”

The full results of both the Best Kept Village and Village of the Year competitions will be revealed at the end of July. The winning villages in the Best Kept competition will then be presented with prizes and commemorative certificates at a series of village based presentation

events taking place on September 30 th from 2pm onwards. The Village of the Year presentations follow in October (date tbc), when further prizes are on offer 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.

Later in the year, one village will also be nominated to 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.

For further information on the competitions please contact Alison Chappell at WRCC on 02476 303232, email alisonc@wrccrural.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:

WARWICKSHIRE BEST KEPT VILLAGE ENTRIES 2006 by DISTRICT

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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