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Press Release: June 2006

St Dogmaels to Welcome Royal Visitors

The award winning village of St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire will be welcoming TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall for a tour of the community on Monday 3rd July.

St Dogmaels won an impressive three category prizes for South Wales in last year’s Calor Village of the Year® for Wales competition, coming out on top in the Business, Young People and Environment categories. The tour will cover aspects of these areas of the community, culminating in the presentation of a plaque to commemorate the visit as well as St Dogmaels’ past success in the Calor Village of the Year® for Wales competition.

Suzanne Weir, Calor Village of the Year® manager, commented: “His Royal Highness has followed the progress of the Calor Village of the Year® competition for some time, having visited other winning villages in past years including Pendoylan in the Vale of Glamorgan where last year’s Calor Village of the Year® Wales regional winners were revealed by The Prince. The purpose of the competition is to identify, celebrate and reward well balanced, pro-active caring communities which, irrespective of size, have made the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all residents, and we are sure that examples of the very best of village life will be presented to Their Royal Highnesses during the tour of St Dogmaels.”

Following a church service to celebrate the 80th birthday of The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will commence on a walkabout of the village. This will be followed by a discussion group attended by members of St Dogmaels’ business community and a representative of BITC (Business in the Community) – an independent business led charity supported by The Prince who is its President. This will be looking at the ways in which Calor’s new Rural Pub in the Community Award and BITC’s rural enterprise scheme ‘Pub is the Hub’ can be best promoted throughout Wales to the maximum benefit of communities.

Suzanne Weir added: “We are delighted that TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will be spending time in St Dogmaels meeting members of the community and getting a sense of the qualities which won the villages its three category awards in last year’s Calor Village of the Year® for Wales competition. I hope that this continued support will encourage more and more Welsh communities to get involved in the competition in future years and help it go from strength to strength.”

For further information regarding the Calor Village of the Year® for Wales competition please contact Brian Challis on 01962 629768, email info@calorvillageoftheyear.org. You can also refer to the newly launched bi-lingual competition website at www.calorvillageoftheyear.org.

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

Notes to Editors:

Calor Village of the Year®

Calor, the leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) to those living and working in the countryside, has supported rural activities in England, Scotland and Wales for 20 years through its Rural Sponsorship programme, which includes the English Calor Village of the Year® competition, the Calor Scottish Community of the Year competition and, for the first year, a Welsh Calor Village of the Year® competition. All three competitions are organised and funded by the company on an annual basis.

• The Welsh Calor Village of the Year® competition is open to rural communities throughout Wales with a population of 5,000 or under. Entry is open to all Community Councils or other community groups if they are in line with the following criteria:

• A ‘not for profit’ local organisation or trust set up to improve the social, economic or environmental health of the local community.

• A strong emphasis on the involvement of local individuals or groups active within the community.

• Partnerships, networks or forums acting within a localised community.

Please note that Calor Village of the Year® is a registered trademark and should be referred to in full in all circumstances.

The national Calor Village of the Year® judges look for well-balanced, pro-active, caring communities which, irrespective of size, have made the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all residents.

The prize money for the 2006 Welsh Calor Village of the Year® competition totals £8,500. First prize is £1,500 with £500 going to an overall winner for North Wales and for South Wales. In addition, there are six category prizes of £500 within North Wales and South Wales (covering Community Life, Business, Environment, Care for Older People, Care for Young People and Information Communication Technology).

For general information on the English and Welsh Calor Village of the Year® competitions:
email: info@calorvillageoftheyear.org, tel: 01962 629768or visit: www.calorvillageoftheyear.org

For more information on the Calor Scottish Community of the Year competition:
visit: www.communityoftheyear.co.uk

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