Does it make the most of local opportunities? Is it in need of a boost?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions then your community should be contesting one of the county village competitions in England. Scenic beauty is not important. What matters is care and achievement. The competitive experience is a great way of bringing a community together.
Villages throughout the county with a population of 6,000 and under are being reminded not to leave it too late if they want to enter the 2006 Calor Hampshire Village of the Year competition. Information and entry forms went out to villages back in February encouraging them to enter and the deadline is coming up on 31st May 2006.
The competition is organised by the Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils (HAPTC) and sponsored by Calor in association with Defra, with additional support from Hampshire's district councils. The entry form for 2006 has been made easier to encourage more entries. Competition organiser on behalf of HAPTC, Steven Lugg, commented: “I want to encourage as many communities as possible to enter, particularly those that haven't taken part in either competition before. We're not looking for ‘perfect’ villages so don’t be afraid to have a go. Entering the competition can be a very positive activity for a community – bringing people together and engendering community spirit. The closing date for entries is approaching, but there is still time for villages to take part if they act now.” One new exciting development is the Community Publication of the Year Award being sponsored by Greenhouse Graphics of Bramley, near Basingstoke and open to all ‘geographical communities’ and ‘communities of interest’ in Hampshire. With £650 available in prizes for this aspect of the competition alone, there have never been so many good reasons for entering.
The competition judges communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT) and entries are invited from any community group – it doesn’t have to be through the parish council. Cash prizes of £400 and £200 are on offer to the overall winner and runner up respectively. In addition there is £500 prize money specifically for the Building Community Life category, which has been made available thanks to continued competition support from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) at both county and national level. This will be split between a winner, which will receive £300, and a runner up, which will receive £200. There is also an award of £100 for the Best Small Village (population 500 and under), and a schools’ poster competition with a prize of £100 for the winning poster, which will also be used to promote the county competition next year.
New for 2006 is an added element to the competition at district level. A winning village in each of Hampshire’s seven districts will be selected and will receive a plaque. The following four District and Borough Councils are joint competition sponsors for their own areas; Basingstoke &
Deane Borough Council, East Hampshire District Council, Test Valley District Council and Winchester County Council.
The overall winning village (according to eligibility) will have the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent the county in the prestigious Calor Village of the Year® for England competition, with the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share of the prize fund totalling more than £39,000.
For further information and entry forms please contact Steven Lugg on 01962 841699, email steven.lugg@hants.gov.uk.http://www.villageoftheyear.org