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Humber & Wolds Building Community Life Winners Revealed

The winning villages in the 2005 Humber & Wolds Calor Building Community Life competition have been revealed at a presentation event held on Tuesday 27th September at Normanby Hall, North Lincolnshire.

The competition, which is being run by Humber & Wolds Rural Community Council, was launched for villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire area back in April following support for the Calor Building Community Life competition from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Defra is providing funding in 2005 at both county and national level to enhance the newly established Building Community Life category. Prizes of £500 and £300 were on offer for two successful villages in the competition. A total of £500 prize money was provided by Defra with the additional funds coming from the LEADER + Capacity Building Project.

Villages were judged on many aspects of their community life, from the facilities and services available to help those in need, to the range of activities and clubs on offer for residents. The main aim of the competition was to encourage residents to look at how everyone within the community is being provided for, giving them an opportunity to celebrate all the positive aspects of village life, and to consider any issues or opportunities following their involvement in the competition.

The village of South Cave has gained the first prize in the competition and is the Building Community Life winner for Humber & Wolds. South Cave is a large village with a population of just over 4,800. Judges found it to be a vibrant community with lots going on. It was felt that the whole community takes pride in the village with lots of people involved in a wide range of activities and clubs and good communication between the various groups. One particular project the judges picked up on was the farmers’ market in South Cave, which was set up recently. This now provides a great asset for the community and acts as forum for people to meet and catch up.

The runner up in the competition is the village of Bainton. Bainton is an attractive village which is well cared for by residents and where a sense of community spirit is readily apparent. With a population of just 238, judges found that this small village acted as a centre for the surrounding rural communities with people from the local area encouraged to join villagers in their many activities.

Rob Benson of Calor and Mike Feist representing Defra presented representatives of South Cave and Bainton with their prizes, which also included framed commemorative certificates.

Competition organiser on behalf of Humber & Wolds RCC, Helen Anglum, commented: “The judges had a difficult time selecting the winning villages from the original entrants. Both South Cave and Bainton had a lot going for them, although they are very different in terms of size, facilities available etc. South Cave was selected as the winner because, whilst a large village, judges felt that it was working very hard to retain a real sense of community and has achieved that very successfully. Our congratulations go to both South Cave and Bainton, and we would like to thank all the villages that participated in the competition this year.”

As the winner, South Cave also has the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent Humber & Wolds 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. South Cave is competing in the North England region of the competition against villages from Cheshire, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, North Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Redcar & Cleveland, Tees Valley and Yorkshire.

The Calor Village of the Year^® competition judges communities on a total of six aspects of rural village life, one of which is Building Community Life. The other five categories cover Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT). South Cave has until the end of September to send in its entry and it will be visited by the North England judging team during October.

Mike Feist from the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber said: “Much of the quality of life in rural communities stems from the efforts of its members to work for the benefit of all. South Cave is a prime example, and on behalf of Defra, I would like to congratulate South Cave on winning this award and hope it will stimulate other communities to enter the competition next year.”

Helen Anglum concluded: “We wish South Cave the best of luck with the next stage of the competition. It’s a great community with motivated and enthusiastic residents and we’re sure it’s got what it takes to do well at national level.”

For further information please contact Helen Anglum at Humber & Wolds Rural Community Council on 01430 430904, email helen.anglum@hwrcc.org.uk

Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR Ltd
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