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Village Winners Announced

The results of the 2006 Calor Humber & Wolds Village of the Year competition have been revealed at a presentation event held on Wednesday 6th September at Rudston Village Hall.

The competition, which is run by Humber & Wolds Rural Community Council (RCC), judged communities on five aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People and the Environment. It is sponsored by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), with continued competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) in the Building Community Life category and the provision of £500 prize money.

The village of Hutton Cranswick is the overall winner of the competition, gaining the prestigious title of 2006 Calor Humber & Wolds Village of the Year.

The full results of the competition are as follows:

Building Community Life Winner Wrawby (£350 prize money)

Building Community Life Runner Up Swanland (£150 prize money)

Business in the Community Winner Gilberdyke

Young People Winner Everingham

Environment Winner Wawne

Up and Coming Village Award Seaton

Highly Commended Scawby

Chris O’Bee of Calor presented representatives of the winning communities with their prizes, consisting of cash prizes and framed certificates.

Judges commented on the winning villages: “The standard of entries was very high so we had a difficult task selecting the winners. We have awarded prizes to villages that really shone in a particular area, but to win the overall title, Hutton Cranswick was consistently impressive across all six categories and showed great community spirit and collective engagement during our visit.”

As the 2006 Calor Humber & Wolds Village of the Year, Hutton Cranswick 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. Hutton Cranswick will initially be competing in the North England region of the competition against villages from Cheshire, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Tees Valley and Yorkshire.

For further information on the Calor Humber & Wolds Village of the Year competition and a full judges’ report please contact Peter Hirschfeld at Humber & Wolds RCC on 01377 232134, email peter.hirschfeld@hwrcc.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:

Judges’ report:

Hutton Cranswick – The judges were most impressed with the village, its submission and the visit. They felt that the village combined all the elements necessary to be awarded the overall title and remarked on the fact that the community really looked to be working together in all aspects of village life. The presentation made to the judges on their visit really brought home the community spirit and collective engagement in the village and the decision to award them overall title was unanimous.

Wrawby – Once again the judges were very impressed with the written submission and particularly the visit. The village has a dynamic quality, which manifests itself in the positive attitudes shown by those who are heavily involved in the life of the community. There is a great emphasis on youth and bringing all sections of the village together through activities and volunteer service provision. Once again the judges were able to see the workings of the community on their visit and the enthusiasm of those involved in the community.

Swanland – The judges were very impressed with the village and in particular the Swan card scheme for elderly residents in need of assistance and the willingness of villagers to volunteer for this and other services within the community. Once again this is a very active community with a great many volunteers who give their time for the benefit of the village.

Gilberdyke – The written submission gave a very clear picture of the village and was well enhanced by the visit of the judges to the community. The judges were again very impressed with all the community activities and in particular the links established between the village and local businesses, including those on the local industrial estate. The judges felt that the community had made good use of these facilities locally to help enhance community life. Again there was a very active community all pulling together to ensure inclusiveness within the village.

Everingham – Here the judges were particularly keen on the efforts within the community to provide facilities for the youth of the village and this was ably explained to the judges on their visit by a group of young people from the Youth Club. The community is very keen to provide a wide range of activities and services for their young people. Although this is a very small community, the village is very active in all areas of village life.

Wawne – The judges were very impressed with the village and the community spirit shown at the visit and felt that the village pulled together to make Wawne an attractive and friendly place to live in. The village is situated close to the city of Hull and its environs, and many of the activities that take place are actively supported by these communities. The village has a number of environmental projects ongoing, which involve all sections of the community.

Scawby – Once again the judges were very impressed with the written submission and the visit to the village. Scawby, the most southern village in this competition, provides a wide range of community based activities and services to its residents through volunteer activity.

Seaton – The judges felt that Seaton had a lot of potential to grow in terms of the community and provision of community based volunteering activity, which can provide so much to a small village and help to bring together all sections of the community.

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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