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Celebration for Avonside's Top Villages

The winning villages in the 2006 Avonside Village of the Year competition have been honoured at a presentation event held on Saturday 4th November at Marksbury Village Hall.

The competition is organised by the Avonside branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), with sponsorship provided by Calor - the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Also, continued competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) this year has led to the provision of £500 additional prize money specifically for the Building Community Life category. The competition judged communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Competition organiser Hilary Severn, CPRE Avonside branch chairman, presented representatives of the winning communities with their awards, which included framed commemorative certificates. (For full results of the competition and details of prize allocation please refer below.)

The village of Timsbury has the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent the county in the prestigious national Calor Village of the Year® for England competition. More than 40 villages across England will be competing in the competition, which has a total prize fund of over £39,000 and a top prize of £7,000. Timsbury will initially be representing Avonside in the West England region of the competition against villages from Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

For further information regarding the competition please contact Brian Challis at info@calorvillageoftheyear.org.

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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

2006 Avonside Village of the Year competition results

Overall winners:

Cup Winners Shield Kingston Seymour (£75 prize)
Wills Cup (large villages) Oldland Common (£75 prize)
Armstrong Cup (small villages) Old Down (£75 prize)
Most Improved Bitton (£40 prize)

District winners (£50 prize each):

Bath & North East Somerset Large Village: Timsbury / Small Village: Ubley
North Somerset Large Village: Wrington / Small Village: Cleeve
South Gloucestershire Large Village: Oldland Common / Small Village: Old Down

Defra supported Building Community Life category winners (£40 prize each):

Bath & North East Somerset Large Village: Timsbury / Small Village: Ubley
North Somerset Large Village (joint winners): Congresbury, Long Ashton, Wrington / Small Village: Abbots Leigh
South Gloucestershire Large Village: Oldland Common / Small Village: Old Down

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 £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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