Press Archive

Don't Miss Out on the Opportunity to Celebrate your Community

Villages in Surrey are being urged not to miss out on their opportunity to enter the 2005 Village of the Year competition.

The competition is being organised by Surrey Community Action with sponsorship provided by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Information and entry forms went out to villages last month to encourage their involvement, and chief executive of Surrey Community Action, Jean Roberts-Jones, does not want villages to miss out on this opportunity to celebrate village life. She commented: “The competition judges communities on six key aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and, new for 2005, Information Communications Technology. It’s a great way of delving into what really makes village like tick and provides communities with the opportunity to consider any issues or opportunities that become apparent following their involvement in the competition.

The closing date for this year’s competition isn’t until 16th May so there is still time for villages to get together an entry. Perhaps the enlarged prize fund will encourage villages to give the competition a go. Jean Roberts-Jones added: “Thanks to competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) this year, we have £500 additional prize money for the Building Community Life category. This will be split into one prize of £250 and five additional prizes of £50. There is also a prize of £250 is available for the overall winner across all the categories, with two additional prizes of £100 for outstanding merit or innovation.

“The Building Community Life entry form consists of 14 questions covering many aspects of a village’s community life, which are designed to be thought provoking and encourage applicants to think about their village. For many villages not all questions will be relevant and therefore it is not compulsory to answer all or any of these questions. Applicants are also encouraged to include any additional information that they feel more accurately represents their village.”

One village will also have the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level in the English Calor Village of the Year^® competition, which has a total prize fund of over £36,000 and a top prize of £6,000.

Ms Roberts-Jones concluded: “I know that Surrey’s villages have got what it takes to do well in the national competition, but the first step is to enter the Surrey Village of the Year and that in itself is an extremely positive and worthwhile experience. It does not have to be the parish council that enters. We welcome entries from any community group in the village – the WI, village shop, local pub. The message is, if you believe in your community – give the competition a go!”

Judging will take place over the summer months and a presentation event will take place in September.

Further information regarding the competition is available from Jean Roberts-Jones on 01483 459292 ext 200 or email jeanr@surreyca.org.uk

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