Village life page

Best Village Competition: 2007

2007

Left to right: David Scudamore of NACRE, Ray Crouch, Peter Burns and John Thorne, all of Helmdon Parish Council and Harj Virk of Calor.. — Left to right: David Scudamore of NACRE, Ray Crouch, Peter Burns and John Thorne, all of Helmdon Parish Council and Harj Virk of Calor.

Helmdon has been voted the best medium sized village in Northamptonshire for the second year running in the 2007 Calor Village of the Year for Northamptonshire contest.

The award ceremony at the Hunsbury Hill Centre in Northampton saw Helmdon collect the winner’s trophy for medium villages as well as the runners-up trophy for the overall competition, with top spot going to Kings Sutton who were new entrants to the competition this year.

The award is another accolade for the village and all its residents and is recognition of all the effort that everyone puts in to making Helmdon the great place it is.

Peter Burns, chairman of Helmdon Parish Council said “Once again this year in the Village of the Year competition we won the cup for the best medium sized village and were runners up to Kings Sutton in the overall competition scoring 131 points out of a possible 137. To everyone who took the time for the meeting in the Bell and for all who contribute to the life of Helmdon I would like to say thank you.”

If anyone is interested in Helmdon’s participation in the Calor Village of the Year competition please contact any member of the Parish Council.

The judges marks and comments are below:

	Maximum Marks	Marks Awarded	Remarks
Village Life	31	31	Is all encompassing with excellent facilities in every area of art, history, crafts, literary and not to forget the social events, often for charitable reasons. A practical playing field with clubhouse, about to be refurbished, to include more sporting activities.
Community Life	34	33.5	Meeting with the villagers in the Pub gave a first hand experience of a lively, active and inspired community. A cross-over of interest bonded young and old and gender alike.
Business	10	10	A multitude of businesses from physiotherapy to hairdressing, well patronised by the locals. All these contribute to the community and beyond.
Young People	21	21	Plenty of social and sporting activities as well as an outstanding primary school with a well equipped and safe play area.
Older People	16	12	Well looked after and participate and add to village life in many ways.
Environment	25	23.5	Progress and conservation are blended together. To make life practical as well as respecting the work of previous generations. The children contribute under direction with matters environmental.
TOTAL AWARDED	137	131	It is an outstanding village in every respect of life, generated by the enthusiasm and hard work of its local population. It must be a wonderful experience to live in such an interesting and active village.
IT Category	11	10	This was judged by three independent judges and the average mark awarded.

Links In This Section:
• Village Of The Year Competition 2006
• Northamptonshire ACRE

Groups and series: Best Village Competition
Topics: Northamptonshire's Best Village Competition

Researched and written by Helmdon Local History Group volunteers. We do our best, but we can sometimes get things wrong. Corrections and additions are welcome.