Swindon & Wiltshire News
Hills Group backs best kept villages competition
Marlborough-based The Hills Group has announced its sponsorship of the Council for the Protection of Rural England´s Wiltshire Best Kept Village competition for 2013.
The competition is open to all 234 villages in Wiltshire. It is judged in three categories – small villages with populations between 1 to 300 residents; medium villages with populations between 301 to 1,000 residents and large villages with populations between 1,001 to 3,500 residents.
There are prizes for the first, second and third village in each category and judging takes place in two rounds. Last year’s winners were: large village – Hilperton; medium village – Dinton and small village – Great Hinton.
Mike Hill, chief executive of The Hills Group, said: “Ours is very much a Wiltshire business and through our support we are able to give back to the areas in which we operate. The competition encourages villages to work together and it’s a good opportunity to build a stronger community.”
John Blake, secretary of CPRE Wiltshire said: “CPRE Wiltshire is delighted that Hills Group are sponsoring the Hills Group Wiltshire CPRE Best Kept Village Competition, now in its 55th year.
“All villages are invited to enter and in doing so they foster pride and caring for their village and its people. This they can demonstrate at the winners’ ceremony on 6th October when they collect their prizes awarded by Wiltshire’s Lord Lieutenant, President of CPRE Wiltshire.”
The closing date for entries into the competition is Friday, April 26 and more information can be obtained from admin@cprewiltshire.org.uk or www.cprewiltshire.org.uk
