The winners of the Community Foundation’s Best Kept Village and Community Competition 2023 have been announced, and nearby village Fulford has picked up an award!
Bargain Hunt TV star Richard Winterton of Richard Winterton Auctioneers, Lichfield, sponsored the event and helped to announce the winners at an award event in Stafford last week.
Joint winner of the Community Spirit award with Edingale and Hill Ridware near Lichfield was Fulford, with all three villages getting top marks.
The winner of the large Village competition was Gnosall, with Edingale also winning the small village award.
BKVC Manager Jo Cooper said:
“After many years of simply judging the beauty of villages, the new BKVC illustrates and celebrates their community spirit.
“We had three sub-competitions this year, judging the children’s poster; spirit of BKVC poetry, prose, and photography awards; and of course, the new Community Spirit competition.
“Every entrant has, as usual, highlighted their sense of pride of being part of a village making judging very difficult. It was a tight call and I’d like to say thank you to every entrant for participating and many congratulations to all our winners.
“I’d like to thank the judges for their time and diligence in assessing all the entries and visiting all the villages. The entrants were of a very high standard this year, shown by Edingale, Fulford and Hill Ridware sharing the Community Spirit award having scored 100% each.”
Category sponsors included the Mill Dam Trust, the Owen Family Trust, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, the award-winning Canalside Farm, Excello Law, Homes Plus, Critchlow Estate Agents and Molo Cleaning Services. Richard Winterton Auctioneers was once again the headline sponsor for Staffordshire’s Best Kept Village Community Competition.
Auctioneer Richard Winterton said:
“We’re delighted to continue our involvement with the BKVC, and it’s been great to get out and about meeting people from communities across Staffordshire.
“This year’s competition has seen such a high calibre of entries across the board, and I would like to say very well done to everyone who has been involved in helping make their community a place people love to call home.
“We are already looking forward to next year and, while 2024 may seem a fair way off at the moment, I’d like to invite all communities interested in taking part to get in touch with the organisers now.”
For more information and to enter the 2024 competition visit: www.bestkept.community or call the Community Foundation’s BKVC Manager Jo Cooper on 01785 339540
Category Winners:
WINNER small village community – Edingale.
WINNER large village community – Gnosall.
Second place small village community – Hill Ridware.
Second place large village community – Yoxall.
Third place small village community – Harlaston.
Third place large village community – Pattingham.
JOINT WINNERS of The Community Spirit Award – Fulford, Edingale and Hill Ridware.
WINNER CPRE Sustainable and Green Initiative Award – Edingale.
1 comment
Corinna Metters
Congratulations, Fulford! I wish I lived there!