Rayne beat off a strong challenge from Ashdon, in the north-west of the county, to clinch the prestigious Essex Village of the Year award. Alan Bell, GO-East Rural Development & Environmental Quality Team Leader, presented a special £500 award from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to acknowledge their work in “building community life”.
As Essex Village of the Year, Rayne will go forward to represent the county in the high profile Calor Village of the Year® for England competition, with the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level, as well as a share in the £39,000 prize fund.
The competition, organised annually by Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) and sponsored by Calor, also honoured a raft of Best Kept Village category winners, including Great Dunmow, Ingatestone, Ashdon, Stondon Massey and Langley. All prize winners received their awards at RCCE’s Annual General Meeting on 12th.July.
“This competition demonstrates all that is good about rural life in Essex. Our judges were enormously impressed with the evidence of pride, resilience and enterprise,” said RCCE Director, Nick Shuttleworth.
Alan Bell was impressed with the range of community driven initiatives that the judges had seen across the county. “Rayne stands out for the really positive way it is embracing change. The Parish Council provides a Community Information Point at the village hall, which has a computer available for use free of charge to all residents without access to one. Parish councillors can also be contacted via text message, to encourage input from young people. Volunteers have successfully raised £75,000 to provide a new play area, and a well supported Parish Plan has highlighted the need for further improvements at the playing field and village hall.”
“Ashdon came a very close second in the competition. This small community on the Essex/Cambs border deserves huge credit for the way volunteers take the lead on a range of things from a social car service and a Parish Plan, through to the restoration of the village’s historic windmill. It also has an outstanding (nationally recognised) record in providing affordable housing to meet the needs of local people.”
For more details
http://www.villageoftheyear.org/
http://www.villageoftheyear.org/england/defra-support/index.htm
http://www.rayne-essex.gov.uk/
http://www.ruralhousing.org.uk/
