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Village Winners Revealed

The winning villages in the 2007 Calor Northamptonshire Village of the Year competition, which is organised by Northamptonshire ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England), have been revealed at a presentation event held at the Hunsbury Hill Centre on Tuesday 24 th July.

The competition, sponsored by Calor - the UK's leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) , judged communities on seven categories covering Village Life, Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, Environment and Information Technology (IT).

All the villages that entered were visited by competition judges during May. The village of King's Sutton has been revealed as the overall winner of the competition, gaining the prestigious title of Calor Northamptonshire Village of the Year for 2007. Other prizes have been awarded as follows -

OVERALL WINNERS

1 st King's Sutton

2 nd Helmdon

3 rd Titchmarsh

SMALL VILLAGES

Winner - Clipston

Runner Up - East Carlton

Highly Commended - Whilton

MEDIUM VILLAGES

Winner - Helmdon

Runner Up - Titchmarsh

Highly Commended - Cottingham

LARGE VILLAGES

Winner -King's Sutton

Joint Runners Up - Brixworth & Crick

Newcomers Cup Winner - King's Sutton

Runner Up - Middleton Cheney

WILDLIFE TRUST CONSERVATION CHURCHYARD

Winner - Bozeat

Runner Up - Newton Bromswold

Harj Virk of Calor presented representatives of the winning communities in the Calor Northamptonshire Village of the Year competition with their prizes, which consisted of cups for the winners plus framed certificates and cash prizes.

Chair of the Calor Northamptonshire Village of the Year judges, David Scudamore commented: " We were very impressed by the standard of the villages involved in this year's competition and the judges had a very tough job selecting the winners. Our congratulations go to all of the villages, whether they won a prize or not. We hope that even more villages will be encouraged to participate again in 2008, especially as we will again be awarding the Newcomers Cup."

As the 2007 Calor Village of the Year for Northamptonshire, King's Sutton will now go forward and represent 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.

Competition organiser, Anne Millar added: "We wish King's Sutton the best of luck in the Calor Village of the Year® for England competition. They are an outstanding community and did exceptionally well in the county competition. We are sure that this success can be replicated at national level. In terms of the county competition, we continue to need local sponsorship for 2008, and this year would like to thank Corby Borough Council, Heygates Limited, Nationwide Building Society, and Northamptonshire Community Foundation for their support."

For further information regarding the Calor Northamptonshire Village of the Year competition please contact Anne Millar on 01604 825885, or email anne.millar@northantsacre.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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