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11 Villages Shortlisted in County Competition

A total of 11 Hampshire villages are in line for prizes in the 2007 ‘Love Your Village’ Calor Hampshire Village of the Year competition, organised by Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils (HAPTC), and now wait in anticipation for judging which is due to take place before the end of July.

The competition is sponsored by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Competing villages are as follows –

Bishopstoke, Bisterne, Cheriton, Grayshott, Greywell, King's Somborne, Marchwood, North Waltham, Rowland's Castle, Southwick & Widley and Wickham

These villages are being judged on six aspects of village life with categories in Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT). There is a £300 prize on offer for the overall winning community along with a cast iron plaque which can be displayed in the village. In addition to the main competition, there is also a ‘Best Small Village’ category and a ‘Best in District/Borough’ category, which is being supported by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, East Hampshire District Council, Winchester City Council and Test Valley Borough Council.

During the judging process, the judging teams will particularly be looking for a spirit of community, and are encouraging innovative or unusual approaches to the judges visits! The lead judge for Hampshire, Jane Harrap commented: "We are pleased that so many new villages to the competition have come forward, and are busy arranging visits even now!"

Later in the year the overall winner in Hampshire 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, the East Hampshire village of Selborne, has recently been visited by competition judges and will find out if it’s been awarded any prizes in the competition during October.

Competition co-ordinator on behalf of HAPTC, Steven Lugg commented: “We are pleased to be involved in this excellent community competition because it complements our work with local councils, improving residents’ quality of life. If that strange phrase ‘community cohesion’ means anything, then it means exactly what is demonstrated when the judges visit all these wonderful communities throughout Hampshire."

For further information regarding the ‘Love Your Village’ Calor Hampshire Village of the Year competition please contact Steven Lugg on 01962 841699, email steven.lugg@hants.gov.uk or visit www.haptc.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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