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Call to Action for Gloucestershire Villages

Time is running out for villages with a population of 5,000 and under that wish to enter the 2007 Calor Gloucestershire Village of the Year competition, with the deadline for entries approaching on May 25.

Entries are invited from any organisation within a village and entrants are judged on up to eight categories covering Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Healthy village and Safer village.

The competition is organised by the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (GRCC) with sponsorship provided by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), along with Gloucestershire First, Gloucestershire Safer Stronger Communities Partnership, Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust and the usual great support from the Gloucester Citizen, Gloucestershire Echo and Forester newspapers. In addition, ‘Cotswold Life’ Magazine will be providing help and assistance to the winners of ‘Best parish magazine/newsletter’, and Gloucestershire Market Towns Forum will pilot a stand alone prize for ‘Best Market Town’. Finally, B&Q in Gloucester have again generously donated a fabulous gas powered barbeque and patio heater for the Grand Prize Draw. Every completed form returned to GRCC by May 25 will automatically be entered into this draw, the prizes to be presented at the awards ceremony in July.

GRCC Chief Executive, Lesley Archer commented: “I want to encourage as many villages as possible to get involved in this competition. We’re not looking for ‘perfect’ villages so don’t be afraid to have a go. Entering the competition can be a very positive activity for a community because often villages don’t realise just how much they’ve got going on until they actually collect the information together. The closing date is approaching, but there is still plenty of time for villages to enter if they act now.”

Later in the year, the village crowned the 2007 Calor Gloucestershire Village of the Year will have the added honour of being nominated to 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. The county’s nominee to the 2006/7 national competition, Poole Keynes, has recently been visited by competition judges and will find out if it’s been awarded any prizes in the competition during October.

For further information regarding the Calor Gloucestershire Village of the Year competition and entry forms please call Naomi McMahon at GRCC on 01452 528491. The closing date for entries is May 25 and the awards ceremony will take place at the Colesbourne Park on July 20.

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Editor’s Notes:-

GRCC

GRCC is dedicated to enriching the lives of people living in rural Gloucestershire by supporting them through change and by enabling them to determine and develop their own communities.

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 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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