Stop Press

Staffordshire Building Community Life Winner Revealed

The village of Rolleston-on-Dove is celebrating having been revealed as the winner of the 2006 Calor Staffordshire Building Community Life competition at a presentation event held on Wednesday 20th September at Weston Methodist Church Hall.

A total of three villages were in line for prizes in the competition, which is being run in every county in England as part of the Calor Village of the Year® competition or as a stand alone competition thanks to support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The villages of Rolleston-on-Dove, Church Eaton and Stonnall were shortlisted from the original entrants and faced visits from the competition judging team during July.

The competition was run by the Community Council of Staffordshire and judged villages on various different aspects of their community life, looking for vibrant, inclusive communities that work hard to provide for residents and enhance the quality of life for everyone in the village. Competition judges commented: “We were very impressed by the community spirit shown in all three of the villages visited and each one clearly had its strengths and weaknesses. However, Rolleston-on-Dove stood out as having the greatest level of community involvement and thoroughly deserves the county Building Community Life title.”

As the winner of the competition, representatives of Rolleston-on-Dove were presented with £250 prize money. Runners up Church Eaton and Stonnall each received £125. Brian Challis representing Calor also presented each village with a framed commemorative certificate in recognition of their success.

Andy Halden, the Community Council’s CEO, commented: “Our congratulations go to all three shortlisted villages, but particularly to Rolleston-on-Dove as the winner. It was great to have the opportunity to celebrate with representatives of the villages at the awards event and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for the hard work they’ve put into entering the competition in 2006.”

For further information regarding the Calor Staffordshire Building Community Life competition please contact the Community Council of Staffordshire on 01785 242525.

- ends -

Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR, a Connectpoint Company
tel: 0161 817 4200 / 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 £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

Click here to download this press release in Word format