Best Village Competition 2009

Villages throughout Leicestershire and Rutland with a population of 10,000 were invited to enter the Best Village Competition, sponsored by Calor in association with Leicestershire and Rutland County Councils.

Entries have now been received from 14 Parishes, 3 of which want to be to be considered for the 'Best Village Category. These villages have entered Categories 1,2,3& 4 which will judge them on rural village life including Community, Business, Sustainability and Communications.

A number of other parishes have entered one or more catgories which include a special category for Village Halls (community buildings).

Judging the entries
The volunteer judges took part in a training session held at the Rural Community Council in May. Judging will take place during June and each village will have been contacted by the judges to arrange for the judging. Among other things the judges will be looking for a 'buzz factor' and a vibrancy within the village.

Presentation of awards
Presentation of prizes will take place on Thursday, September 24th 2009, during the annual meeting of the Rural Community Council.

What is the Best Village Competition?
The competition is about recognising, rewarding and encouraging vibrant and sustainable village communities which pull together to make the best of local opportunities – through both good times and bad, for example in the current economic downturn.

• The ‘Community’ category includes outcomes from Parish Plans that are being implemented across Leicestershire and Rutland; individual village ventures, such as Pantomimes and village green projects; and care projects for the young and the elderly.
• The ‘Business’ category covers the relationship between businesses and the village.
• The ‘Sustainability’ category includes activities on such projects as waste recycling, tree planting, village ponds and parish paths.
• The ‘Communications’ category has a wide scope, including projects ranging from ‘welcome packs’, through access to computer tuition, to a village website.
• The Village Hall (Community Building) category returns by popular request for the award of the Colonel John Heggs Trophy.

Category winners will receive cash prizes, and for the winning villages there’s an attractive certificate on offer and a ‘Best Village’ post will be erected in the centre of each of the villages.

Competition organiser Ken Hunnybun commented, “We know that Leicestershire and Rutland have lots of fantastic village communities, all of which are involved in some excellent projects and are really working hard to improve life for villagers of all ages. We want to give villages the opportunity to showcase what they do well while recognising what they can improve on or where best practice can be incorporated. The aim of the competition is to get villages to help themselves, so we want as many villages as possible to get involved and give it a go.”

The competition is organised by a dedicated group of Volunteers on behalf of the Rural Community Council (Leicestershire & Rutland). Sponsorship is provided by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of off-mains gas

For more information contact the RCC or the volunteer co-ordinator Ken Hunnybun 0116 238 8354 ajmskh@aol.com

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Calor Village of the Year Competition

Later in 2009, following the country-level competition, two villages (with a population under 5,000) – one representing Leicestershire and one representing Rutland – will have the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent their counties in the prestigious Calor Village of the Year for England competition 2009/10. This will give those villages the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share of a prize fund totalling more than £40,000.

The Calor Village of the Year UK competition is also running for a second year so the ultimate accolade for one village from Leicestershire and one from Rutland could be representing England and going on to win the overall UK title.

The villages representing Leicestershire and Rutland in the current national competition for England are Billesdon and Cottesmore and, following the submission of a written entry, villagers will receive a visit from competition judges between March 23 and April 3.

To find out more about Calor Village of the Year you can visit the competition website at www.calorvillageoftheyear.org

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Col. Sir Andrew Martin Cricket Competition 2009

Cricket Clubs across Leicestershire were invited to enter the Col Sir Andrew Martin Cricket Competition that was this year sponsored by Lorraine Lee of the Hinckley McDonalds Franchise.
Fifteen clubs entered and the draw was made by Jean Lee RCC trustee and Tony Rogers (volunteer competition organiser). A copy of the draw can be viewed on the attached document.

The final of the 2008 Col Sir Andrew Martin Cricket Competition, run by the competitions volunteers at the Rural Community Council(Leicestershire & Rutland), was played at Newtown Linford between Newtown Linford and Sharnford Cricket Clubs on Sunday 28th September. Sharnford emerged winners over Newtown Linford.

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Best Village Competition Winners 2008

Winners of the Best Village Competition 2008 are as follows:-
Overall Best Village Leicestershire - Billesdon. Rutland - Cottesmore.
Communities with a population under 500 Wanlip. 501 - 1000 Billesdon . 1001 - 2000 Wymeswold. 2001 - 5000 Ratby. 5,000 - 10,000 Barrow upon Soar. Nominated to the Calor Village of the Year for Rutland - Cottesmore and Leicestershire - Billesdon. In the individaul categories the following were successful;- People winner -Cottesmore runner up - Burton on the Wolds. Business winner - Ratby - runner up Long Whatton. Environment winner - Billesdon runner up - Belton in Rutland. Communications winner - Normanton le Heath runner up - Whissendine. In addition commended awards were made to Leicester Forest East, Thurnby and Bushby and Mountsorrel

Best Village 2008 Competition sponsored by Calor

Entries have now closed and judging has taken place for the prestigious Leicestershire and Rutland Best Village Competition, sponsored by Calor in association with Leicestershire County Council. The 2008 competition is being organised by the Rural Community Council (Leicestershire & Rutland), with financial support from Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). The RCC is delighted to have a dedicated team of volunteers who are delivering the competition this year. Results will be announced at an awards ceremony that will take place at County Hall, Glenfield on September 2nd. Details of winners will be shown on our website on September 3rd

If you require more information, please contact Jean Lee Tel: 01530 830700 or email: jla11bike@aol.com

Deadline for entries was April 7th 2008. Follow the link below to download more details and an application form. Information on next years competition will be available here from January 2009.

Big Picnic and Best Village Presentation 2007

The presentation for the Best Village Competition sponsored by Calor took place at Beaumanor Hall on Sunday September 9th.

The Hall was made available for the day by Leicestershire County Council and was opened for people to enjoy a picnic in the grounds and to take a look at the public rooms in the house. The picnic and grounds attracted around 40 visitors. It was a glorious day and the atmosphere was buzzing as many of the visitors awaited the results of the Best Village Competition.

At 3.00pm around 62 guests, representing the villages that entered joined Jennifer Lady Gretton and Civic Dignitaries from Hinckley & Bosworth, Melton, Harborough, Charnwood, and Leicestershire County Council for the presentation in the Hall.

Guests enjoyed a short address by Councillor Mike Jones Chairman of the County Council before he and Lady Gretton presented the prizes.

Unfortunately the representative from Calor was unable to attend due to family illness.

Two Parishes are now nominated to go forward as Leicestershire & Rutland representatives for the Calor Village of the Year Competition. They are Seagrave and Uppingham and we wish them the best of luck in the Calor Village of the Year® for England competition. They are both great examples of vibrant village communities and we’re sure they’ll go on to do really well at national level

Cricket Competition Final 2007

The final was held on Sunday, 16th September at Countesthorpe Cricket Club, Bassett Avenue, Countesthorpe The match which was between Countesthorpe and Cosby ended in a win for Countesthorpe with the Man of the Match Trophy going to a Cosby player.