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Dorset Villages Battle it out for County Titles

The villages competing in the 2006 Dorset Best Kept Village and Best Community competitions, run by Dorset Community Action (DCA), have been revealed. A total of 42 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 competitions are sponsored by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), with additional support from Dorset County Council, the four District Councils, the International Tree Foundation, the Dorset Echo, the Western Gazette, Clipper Teas and Leslie Phillips MBE.

The Best Kept Village competition encourages residents to work together to keep villages tidy and well maintained. It is being contested by a total of 36 villages, all with a population of 3,000 and under.

Competing villages are as follows –

Alton Pancras, Askerswell, Bradford Peverell, Bloxworth, Broadmayne, Catherston Leweston, Cattistock, Charminster, Child Okeford, Church Knowle, Crossways, East Holme, Frampton, Higher & Lower Ansty, Hilton, Iwerne Minster, Loders, Manston, Melcombe Bingham, Milton Abbas, Morden, Oweroigne, Pentridge, Piddlehinton, Pimperne, Puncknowle, Shillingstone, Sixpenny Handley, Sturminster Marshall, Swyre, Thornford, Tincleton, West Lulworth, Winterbourne Steepleton, Winterborne St Martin (Martinstown) and Wootton Fitzpaine.

The Best Community competition judges villages of any size 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 24 villages competing in this competition –
Alderholt, Alton Pancras, Askerswell, Bloxworth, Broadmayne, Bryanston, Cattistock, Chaldon Herring, Charminster, Crossways, Frampton, Hilton, Holt, Litton Cheney, Loders, Morden, Oweroigne, Piddlehinton, Pimperne, Shillingstone, Thorncombe, Thornford, Tincleton and West Lulworth.

Competition organiser on behalf of DCA, Simon Thompson, commented: “We are extremely pleased with the response we’ve had from villages this year. Standards are always very good from Dorset’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 Best Community competitions will be revealed at an awards event taking place on Friday 6th October at Morden Village Hall. The winning villages will be presented with prizes and commemorative certificates, 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. Simon Thompson added: “I hope that this extra prize money will encourage some of those villages that did not enter the competition to do so next year.”

Later in the year, one village with a population of 5,000 or under 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 regarding the 2006 Dorset Best Kept Village and Best Community competitions please contact Dorset Community Action on 01305 250921 or visit www.dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk.

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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 £39,000. First prize is £7,000 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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