Press Archive

Not too late to put your Community Forward in Village of the Year

Villages in the Isle of Wight are being reminded that there is still time to prepare their entry for the 2005 Isle of Wight Village of the Year competition.

Entry forms were sent out to villages across the county in February and competition organiser on behalf of Isle of Wight Rural Community Council (IWRCC), Janet Short, is urging communities to be proactive: “The closing date for entries isn’t until 22nd April so it’s not too late for villagers to get together and prepare an entry. Entering the Village of the Year competition isn’t something villages should be daunted by; they just need to be themselves. But, they’ll never know how well they could do unless they actually go ahead and enter!”

The competition is sponsored by Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with additional support from the Isle of Wight County Press. The competition judges communities on six aspects of village life with categories in Building Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and (judged separately) Information Communication Technology (ICT). If villages still aren’t convinced, maybe this year’s enlarged prize fund will get them motivated. Janet Short added: “The 2005 competition is being supported by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) which means that there is an extra £500 to be shared amongst a number of successful villages in the Building Community Life category. This is an opportunity for communities to celebrate what they’ve got and to say ‘well done’ to villagers who work together to help make community projects happen, whilst also possibly benefiting from some juicy cash prizes along the way!”

One village will also have the chance of following the footsteps of Bembridge in 2004 and gaining recognition at national level in the English Calor Village of the Year^® competition, which this year has a prize fund of over £36,000 and a top prize of £6,000. Janet Short concluded: “Our success in last year’s national Calor Village of the Year^® proves that the Isle of Wight’s villages have got what it takes to do well in the competition. But, the first stage is to take the plunge and get together an entry for the county competition, and I can’t stress enough what a positive activity this is for the communities taking part.” The closing date for entries is 22nd April 2005 and judging of a number of shortlisted villages will take place during May. Category winners and the Isle of Wight Village of the Year will be announced at a formal presentation event taking place on 28th June.

For further information please contact IWRCC on 01983 524058, email janet.short@iwrcc.org.uk

Further press information from: Emma Flinn, Flent PR Ltd tel: 0161 929 4567 email: all@flentpr.co.uk