Press Archive

Bowden wins award for Environment at Calor Scottish Community of the Year Awards

The Bowden Village Committee, trustees of Bowden Common, has today, Thursday 8 December, won the Environment category of the Calor Scottish Community of the Year Awards 2005.

Representatives of the committee received their award from Communities Minister, Malcolm Chisholm MSP, at a ceremony held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).

Twenty-six shortlisted communities attended the annual event, which this year attracted more than one hundred entries from communities spanning the length and breadth of Scotland.

Now in their eighth year, the awards encompass every aspect of Scottish life, providing communities with an opportunity to gain recognition and reward for their efforts. Their aim is to stimulate local people to take responsibility for their communities and enhance them for common good.

In determining the outcome of the awards, the judges sought best practices within communities, which could be used as examples for other communities throughout Scotland.

Commenting on Bowden’s success, Hamish Husband, Calor Scottish Community of the Year Manager said, “The Bowden Village Committee is a very environmentally active community group that has demonstrated great community spirit and involvement.

“Over the past thirty years the committee has undertaken a number of outstanding environmental projects to insure the village’s 26 acre common is enjoyed by generations to come as well as encouraging native wildlife to thrive in the area.

“The community-led initiatives, in particular the community’s active involvement in waste management which, for several years, has seen volunteers taking local waste paper to the recycling plant weekly, as well as the millennium pond, re-establishment of old walking paths and extensive education and participation events, assures us we have a very worthy environment winner for 2005.”

Since launching in 1998 the awards, which are supported by Calor Scotland in association with Communities Scotland and backed by The Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC), The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Business in the Community (SBC) and The Robert Gordon University (RGU), have been entered by more than a third of all Scottish communities from the Borders to Shetland, as well as all the country’s major urban areas.

The award’s categories include environment, business, younger people, older people and community life, as well as a stand-alone award for community websites. Judging the awards were representatives of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Business in the Community (SBC), Communities Scotland, the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) and The Robert Gordon University and a Community Council Support Officer for a local authority.

For further information regarding the awards visit www.communityoftheyear.org.uk

December 06 , 2005

Notes to editors:

Full lists of winners, highly commended and commended communities, are available on the Community of the Year website at www.communityoftheyear.org.uk
Photographs are available on request from

Ashley Ross
The PR Partnership
tel 01224 588900
Ashley@prpartnership.co.uk

For further information and pictures contact:
Ashley Ross
Awards Co-ordinator
tel 01224 588900
e-mail ashley@prpartnership.co.uk Ashley@prpartnership.co.uk

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