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Shrposhire's Top Villages Honoured

The winning villages in the 2007 Calor Shropshire Village of the Year competition, in association with Shropshire Life, have been honoured at a presentation event held on Saturday 14 th July at Calverhall Village Hall.

The competition is organised by the Community Council of Shropshire and sponsored by Calor - the UK's leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), in association with Shropshire Life. The competition judged communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

The village of Calverhall & Ightfield is the overall winner of the competition, gaining the prestigious title of Calor Shropshire Village of the Year for 2007.

The full results of the competition are as follows:

Winner - Calverhall & Ightfield

Joint Runners Up - Caynham

                                Loppington

Finalists - Pontesbury

                Ruyton XI Towns

                Whittington

Ray Brookes of Calor presented representatives of the winning villages with their prizes, which consisted of framed commemorative certificates and cash prizes.

Competition co-ordinator, Gill Porter commented: "The standard of entries was again very high, and each community demonstrated some strong qualities. Our judges had a difficult

time selecting the winner; however, it was decided that Calverhall and Ightfield just pipped the rest to the post and they are deserved winners of the overall award. Our congratulations go to all of the villages that took part, whether they won a prize or not. We hope that they will all be encouraged to participate again in 2008."

As the 2007 Calor Shropshire Village of the Year, Calverhall and Ightfield now has the added honour of being nominated to 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.

Gill Porter added: "We wish Calverhall & Ightfield 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."

For further information regarding the Calor Shropshire Village of the Year competition, please contact Gill Porter on 01743 237878, email gill.porter@shropshire-rcc.org.uk.

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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