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Whixley Is Yorkshire's 2006 Calor Village Of The Year

The village of Whixley is celebrating after being revealed as the winner of the 2006 Calor Yorkshire Village of the Year competition.

A total of five villages were shortlisted in the competition which is organised by Yorkshire Rural Community Council (YRCC) and sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Standards were very high and judges had a difficult task selecting the overall winner, but Whixley just pipped the other four finalists - Green Hammerton, Kettlewell, Bishop Monkton and Catterick, to the post to gain the overall title.

Stephen Hall, competition co-ordinator on behalf of YRCC, commented: “Whixley showed excellent spirit and demonstrated how all parts of the community supported each other. The villagers have worked long and hard to establish and maintain a community owned shop, which local businesses support wholeheartedly. The attention to the wildlife and environment was also impressive with sensitive management in the churchyard and dedicated habitat areas in the village."

The competition judged communities on six categories of village life: Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT). As the overall winner, Whixley will be awarded a £750 first prize at a presentation event taking place on Saturday 21st October at Whixley Village Hall. During the presentations, a runner up will also be announced, receiving a prize of £350. In addition there is also £500 prize money 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 during 2006. The winner of this category will also be revealed on October 21st.

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

Clair Beckett from Whixley added: "For the county competition, all the organisations in the village got together to show the sorts of things the community does. This included people from farm diversification businesses, the village shop, the forge, the church and local landmarks. We are all delighted to have won the county competition and are looking forward to competing in the national competition against villages from across England."

For further information regarding the competition please contact Stephen Hall (Competition Co-ordinator), Yorkshire Rural Community Council, William House, Shipton Road, Skelton, York YO30 1XF, tel: 01904 645271, email: yrcc@williamhouse.co.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:

Yorkshire Rural Community Council (YRCC)

Based at Skelton, near York, YRCC is an independent charitable and voluntary organisation working across rural areas of north, south and west Yorkshire and the City of York. It works to help communities improve the quality of life for all people living and working in rural Yorkshire.

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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