This competition for Scotland's best village is "not about beautification," but on how to sustain Scotland's rural communities, looking at People, the Environment, Business and Communications. Any takers?
Here's the full release...
Communities in Scotland have until June 30 to register and submit their entries to the Scottish Calor Village of the Year Awards, which feature categories specifically for North Scotland, Central Scotland, Southern Scotland and the Scottish Islands with populations of less than 5,000.
The new competition was launched at the end of February at the Scottish Parliament and communities from throughout Scotland have already registered their interest and many have submitted completed entries.
One community from each of the four areas will win £1,000 and go forward to compete against three other villages or small towns from other parts of Scotland, to win the title of Scottish Calor Village of the Year 2008 and receive a further £3,000.
"The new awards present central communities with an even better chance than before, as there are specific categories for communities to enter and there will definitely be a winner from each of the four areas in Scotland.
The awards are organised by Calor Scotland with support from the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) and Rural Gateway. The revitalised competition builds on the success of the former Calor Community of the Year Awards programme and is designed to bring members of communities together to celebrate their diversity and achievements.
The competition assesses communities on four aspects of village life: People, the Environment, Business and Communications.
"The competition is not about beautification, but instead focuses on sustaining Scotland's rural communities," says Suzanne Weir.
"Calor wants to encourage as many villages and small towns as possible to take part. Villages will not be judged on what they have in terms of community facilities and services, but instead on what they do for themselves. Therefore even the smallest community has a good chance of winning a prize if it has strong community spirit and can demonstrate it makes village life as good as it can be for all residents."
The deadline for submission of awards entries has been extended at the request of the ASCC to June 30 to allow more communities to participate.
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