Press Archive

2005 Devon Village of the Year - If you Believe in your Community give it a go!

The 2005 Devon Village of the Year competition has just been launched, and, with an enlarged prize fund for this year’s competition, there is even more incentive for the county’s villages to give it a go.

The competition is run by the Community Council of Devon (CCD) with sponsorship provided by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). 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).

The enlarged prize fund for the 2005 contest is thanks to competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Defra is providing additional funding in 2005 at both county and national level to enhance the newly established Building Community Life category. This means that there is an extra £500 which will go to one successful village in Devon’s Building Community Life section. 2005 marks the first year that the Devon Village of the Year competition has been run solely by the CCD and competition organiser, Rory Cunningham, looking forward to a good response from villages: “The competition’s been going for a number of years in Devon, but I’m sure that there are lots of villages throughout the county that just haven’t considered entering before. I would urge Devon’s villages to at least think about putting together an entry. After all, there are some quite hefty monetary prizes at stake. But, prizes aside, the competition gets residents working together and encourages them to look at how everyone within the community is being provided for. It’s an opportunity for them to celebrate all the positive aspects of life in their village and say ‘well done’ to the people that get community projects up and running.”

Later in the year, one village will have the opportunity to go forward and represent the county in the prestigious national English Calor Village of the Year^® competition, which was recently launched on the BBC’s Countryfile programme. Thanks to Defra’s involvement, 2005 marks the first year in the competition’s history that every village in England has the opportunity to enter the English Calor Village of the Year^® competition, which this year has a prize fund of over £36,000.

Last year, Devon’s nominee to the national competition, Kilmington, won a regional category prize for Young People. But Rory Cunningham is sure that Devon’s villages have got what it takes to do even better: “We were extremely proud of Kilmington’s achievement in the national competition last year and I see the village’s success very much as an indicator of the high standards that can be found in communities throughout the county. So I would urge Devon’s villages to take the plunge and give the county competition a go. It would be great if this year’s entrant could gain an overall regional title, or even become the Calor Village of the Year^® for the whole of England! This is a competition that’s all about community and I can’t stress enough what a positive experience it can be for the villages taking part.” Entry forms are being sent out to parish clerks across the county on 23rd March.

For further information and additional entry forms please contact Rory Cunningham at the Community Council of Devon by email at rory@devonrcc.org.uk, or by telephoning 01392 382535. The deadline for entries is 3rd June 2005 and a number of shortlisted villages will be visited by judges in August. The winners will be announced at the end of August, and a formal presentation event will take place on 19th October at the CCD annual conference.

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