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Competition Winners Revealed

The winning villages in the 2007 Hertfordshire Village of the Year competition – organised by CPRE – the Hertfordshire Society, have been revealed.

The results were announced, and some prizes presented, at an awards evening held at the County Suite, County Hall on Thursday 28th June, by kind invitation of the Chairman of the County Council, Nigel Brook.

The competition is sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), in association with local sponsors Hertfordshire County Council and The Hertfordshire Mercury.

A total of 12 villages, judged on up to six categories covering Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT), were visited by competition judges in order to award the prizes. Details of the winners are as follows –

(For details of prize allocation please refer below.)

Competition organiser, Jo Simson commented: “It’s a first for us that all three of the main winners have defended their titles, so our congratulations must go to Ickleford, Hertford Heath and Hexton for maintaining their high standards. Flaunden and the Hormeads (Great Hormead, Little Hormead and Hare Street) have also done very well to be awarded prizes, having entered the competition for the first time this year.”

As the overall winner and 2007 Hertfordshire Village of the Year, Hertford Heath will now have the added honour of representing the county in the prestigious Calor Village of the Year® for England competition 2007/8. This will give them the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share of a prize fund totalling more than £36,000. The county’s nominee to the 2006/7 national competition, Ickleford, has already submitted its written entry and will find out if it’s been awarded any prizes in the competition during October.

Further presentations to the Villages of the Year for East and West Hertfordshire will take place in the winning communities on Saturday 21st July when the category winners will also be presented with framed Calor certificates. The Best Kept Village tree - donated by Majestic Trees of Flamstead, will be planted on Saturday 27th October.

For further information regarding the Hertfordshire Village of the Year competition, please contact Jo Simson on 01438 717587, email jo@cpreherts.org.uk, or refer to the CPRE – The Hertfordshire Society website (www.cpreherts.org.uk).

For general information about Calor Village of the Year® visit www.calorvillageoftheyear.org.

Ends

Further press information available from: Emma Flinn, Connectpoint, tel: 0161 817 4221, 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 competition.

The Calor Village of the Year® for England competition, now in its eleventh 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. Every year, Calor sponsors the majority of the county village competitions – which this year total more than 40 – each of which is invited to nominate one village to take part in the 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 2007 national Calor Village of the Year® for England competition alone stands at over £36,000. 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 support from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 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 competition:
email: info@calorvillageoftheyear.org or visit: www.calorvillageoftheyear.org

For all media enquiries relating the Calor Village of the Year® competition, please contact Emma Flinn:
email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk or tel: 0161 817 4221

For all general enquiries relating to the Calor Village of the Year® competition, please contact Brian Challis: email: b.challis@ntlworld.com or tel: 01962 629768

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