Press Archive

Shropshire Village of the Year Results Revealed

The results of the 2005 Shropshire Village of the Year competition have been revealed. The competition is run by Gill Porter on behalf of the Community Council of Shropshire. It is sponsored by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with additional support from BBC Radio Shropshire. The competition judges communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

A total of four villages were shortlisted for a visit from competition judges: Highley, Little Wenlock, Quatt and Stottesdon with Chorley & Sidbury. Gill Porter commented: “It was incredibly difficult for the competition judges to make their decision as the four finalists had all made a great effort to put together their entries and the standards were good. I would like to thank the communities that took part in the competition and encourage even more to take part in the competition next year.”

The results of the competition are as follows –

The overall winner for the county, gaining the prestigious title of 2005 Shropshire Village of the Year is Little Wenlock. Little Wenlock is a community of just 450 people which has undertaken a great deal of work to benefit the village since the completion of its parish plan. It was felt that the community worked very well together and thoroughly deserved the county title.

The runner up in the competition, also winning in the ICT category, is the village of Stottesdon with Chorley & Sidbury. Judges felt that this village deserved high praise for working well as a community and bringing the whole parish together. As the winner of the ICT category, the village has been recognised for its innovative and original ways of using ICT to benefit the whole community.

Little Wenlock and Stottesdon with Chorley & Sidbury will be presented with their prizes at a presentation event taking place on Tuesday 20th September. Thanks to competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) this year, there is an extra £500 which will be distributed between the two villages. Highley and Quatt will also be recognised for their success as finalists in the competition with framed Calor certificates.

Little Wenlock, as the overall winner of the competition, and Stottesdon with Chorley & Sidbury, as the ICT category winner, will now go forward to represent the county in the prestigious national English Calor Village of the Year^® competition with the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share in the £36,000 prize fund. They will be competing in the West England region of the competition against villages from Avonside, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

Gill Porter concluded: “My congratulations go to all four finalists. I am really looking forward to celebrating with representatives of the communities at the presentation event on 20th September. We also wish Little Wenlock and Stottesdon with Chorley & Sidbury the best of luck in the next stage of the competition. They are both vibrant communities full of enthusiasm and we are sure they can do really well at national level.”

Further information regarding the competition is available from Gill Porter at the Community Council of Shropshire by email at gillporter@shropshire-rcc.org.uk, or by telephoning 01743 237878.

Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR Ltd
tel: 01223 845781 (direct) / 0161 817 4200 (main office)
email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk