July 29, 2009
Villages come out on top
Celebrations are taking place in three rural communities after they were crowned regional winners of this year’s Scottish Calor Village of the Year. Arrochar and Tarbet, Isle of Eigg, and Forth all collected prizes of £2000 and now go head to head with each other in a bid to become overall Scottish winner which carries a further prize of £7000. The winner is set to be announced later next month
Three rural communities, Arrochar and Tarbet, Forth and Isle of Eigg are celebrating having been crowned the regional winners of the Scottish Calor Village of the Year Competition 2009. Each village was awarded a plaque and £2000 for community investment.
Further category awards were given to Arrochar and Tarbet, Glenlivet and Inveravon, Falkland and Cardross for business, sustainability, community and communication efforts, respectively. These villages have been awarded £500 towards a community development project.
Organised by Calor Gas Ltd., with support from the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC) and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisation’s (SCVO) Rural Team, the awards are designed to allow Scotland’s rural communities to promote their success and achievements, share best community practice and demonstrate initiatives towards sustainability. Communities were judged on four categories this year: people, business, sustainability and communication.
“Nine communities made fantastic presentations to the judges at an event held recently in Stirling,” said Stephen Rennie, MD for Calor Gas. “The decision was made to award separate category accolades in addition to the regional awards as entries were of a very high standard.
“Calor is proud to support communities which make considerable efforts to improve and create a sustainable community for the future – all of our nine short-listed entrants were worthy of an award and made the judges’ decision a very difficult one. I would like to congratulate them all on their efforts.”
The three regional finalists will now go head to head to vie for the title of Scottish Calor Village of the Year 2009. Judges will visit each of the three villages in mid-August before determining the final winner. Each regional winner will be presented with their regional winner’s cheque and plaque during these visits.
The full list of category and regional winners are:
The Regional Winners: each awarded a commemorative plaque and £2000
North region: Isle of Eigg
Central region: Arrochar and Tarbet
South region: Forth
The Category Winners: each awarded £500
Business: Arrochar and Tarbet
Community: Glenlivet and Inveravon
Communication: Cardross
Sustainability: Falkland
The overall Scottish Calor Village of the Year will receive a further £7,000 for community investment, a commemorative plaque and a community celebration on 26 September. The winner is set to be announced in late August.
• For more information on the Scottish Calor Village of the Year 2009 competition, contact Lynsey Shepherd on 01224 217345 or email: info@calorvoy.org.uk
• For further information on Calor and its sustainability commitment, visit www.calor.co.uk