Press Archive

Dorset Villages prepare for Judging

A record number of 57 villages have entered this year’s competitions, 41 in the Best Kept Village (BKV) and 16 in the Best Community Village (BCV), up from 52 in 2004.

Organised by Dorset Community Action, the competitions are entirely voluntary. The Best Kept Village competition is intended to encourage communities across the county to take a pride in the appearance of all public areas. The Best Community Village competition is intended to promote community involvement in the environment, looking after younger and older people, encouraging local business such as the Post Office and Shop, and organising as much community village life as possible - many village halls are booked every day except Christmas Day!

Funded by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), the competitions also enjoy additional support from W & S Recycling, Dorset County Council, all District Councils, International Tree Foundation, Dorset Echo and Western Gazette, so there is every incentive to ‘earn some funds’ for village projects. The winning village in the Best Community Village competition will also be put forward to participate in the national English Calor Village of the Year^® competition, in which Osmington, Fontmell Magna and Loders have all done well in recent years, all receiving £500 for particular aspects of their village life. The 2005 English Calor Village of the Year^® competition has a total prize fund of £36,000 and a top prize of £6,000 is on offer.

Judges are currently assessing BCV entries and in June and July will be visiting, unannounced, all villages in BKV. In addition, this year Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has donated £500 to entries in a separate ‘Building Community Life’ competition with a further four villages taking part.

Competition organiser ‘Cas’ Cade commented: “The competitions have been in operation in Dorset for eighteen years with a gradual increase in entries from 24 in the first year to the present 58. Several villages have been involved for the whole of that time, and the feeling is that once involved, the competition is a fine way to keep village life as alive as possible.”

Anyone can enter their village, so to find out how to become Dorset’s Village of the Year contact Dorset Community Action on 01305 250921 and get ready to take part in 2006. The winning villages for 2005 will be announced at an Awards Evening taking place in October at Pimperne Village Hall.

Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR Ltd
tel: 0161 817 4200 email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk