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Bedfordshire's Top Villages Announced

The winning villages in the 2006 Calor Bedfordshire Village of the Year competition have been revealed at a presentation ceremony held on Tuesday 12th September at Clifton Community Centre.

The competition is run by Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (RCC) with sponsorship provided by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and continued competition support this year from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). It judged communities on six aspects of rural village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

The village of Henlow in mid Bedfordshire is the overall winner of the competition and has been awarded the title of Calor Bedfordshire Village of the Year 2006. In a tight battle, Henlow pipped two other shortlisted villages, Harlington and Clapham, at the post to win the prestigious title and a total of £1,000 prize money, £500 of which is provided by Defra in the Building Community Life category of the competition. Henlow, with a population of around 4,000, is a thriving community in the east of the county. The judges were impressed by the enthusiasm of the many people they met there and the variety of different clubs and societies that the village supports. RAF Henlow Camp is also situated close to the village itself, and the two integrate well.

Janet Ridge, Chief Executive of BRCC and a member of the judging team, said: “The people we met obviously love living in Henlow - we were bowled over by their enthusiasm and their keen interest in making the village tick. It is not a community that is standing still. We were shown how they are developing ideas and making plans to continually improve the village. Henlow is deservedly Bedfordshire's Calor Village of the Year for 2006.”

The two running up villages - Harlington and Clapham, were also excellent entries and both communities came close to winning the title. The judges were very impressed by the many improvements that they saw in Clapham, which won £500 as 'most improved village'.  Harlington came within a whisker of Henlow and won £750 as 'most promising village'. 

Paul Riding of competition sponsor Calor and Richard Inman representing Defra presented representatives of Henlow, Harlington and Clapham with their prizes at the awards evening, including framed commemorative certificates in addition to the cash prizes.

As well as gaining the prestigious title of 2006 Calor Bedfordshire Village of the Year, Henlow has the honour of being nominated to go forward and represent the county in the prestigious 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. Henlow will initially be representing Bedfordshire in the East England region of the competition, competing against villages from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Janet Ridge added: "It was difficult to distinguish between Henlow and Harlington as both are fantastic examples of thriving communities in this county. The judges did not find the task at all easy but in the end Henlow was the final choice. Henlow should be congratulated on its easy-to-use website, which was one of the things that impressed the judges. The judges decided to increase the prize money to all three finalists to demonstrate the excellent standard and the closeness of the entries. I would like to offer my congratulations to all of them, and wish the people of Henlow well as they go on to represent Bedfordshire in the national competition."

For further information regarding the Calor Bedfordshire Village of the Year competition please contact Janet Ridge on 01234 832611, email janetr@bedsrcc.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:

Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity

1. Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (BRCC) aims to be the leading agency for sustainable community development in Bedfordshire, with a particular focus on rural areas. For further information please contact Janet Ridge on 01234 832611, email janetr@bedsrcc.org.uk. Please also visit our website bedsrcc.org.uk

2. BRCC is one of 38 county based Rural Community Councils in England, working under the national RCC umbrella body, ACRE. At the regional level BRCC works closely with its five sister RCCs across the East of England which together have formed a regional umbrella body, Rural Action East.

3. Achievements: Making £1 Million available via 200 voluntary groups helping young people in the county. Brokering transport between providers and rural groups. Enabling the Landfill Tax Credit Schemes to give £450,000 to 14 projects in Bedfordshire. For more information please see our website bedsrcc.org.uk.

4. BRCC is a registered charity with a membership made up of individuals, community groups, businesses and statutory bodies. Registered charity no 1061538. A company limited by guarantee and registered in England no 3327628.

5. If you would like to become a member of BRCC and help support sustainable community development within Bedfordshire please contact Janet Ridge on 01234 832611, email janetr@bedsrcc.org.uk

Cardington Office:
The Old School, Cardington, Beds. MK44 3NS

Tebworth Office:
The Barn, Buttercup Farm, Hockliffe Road, Tebworth, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. LU7 9QA

Old Warden Office:
The Smithy, The Village, Old Warden, Biggleswade, Beds. SG18 9HQ

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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