Staffordshire Best Kept Village and Community 2023 winners announced

Staffordshire Best Kept Village and Community 2023 winners announced

THE winners of the Community Foundation’s Best Kept Village and Community competition 2023 have been announced.

Richard Winterton Auctioneers is countywide sponsor for the event and auctioneer Richard Winterton helped to announce the winners at the award presentation in Stafford on Wednesday (September 6).

Edingale in East Staffordshire was the star of the evening, picking up three awards – best Small Village, the Sustainable and Green award and joint winner of the Community Spirit award.

The winner of the large village category was Gnosall and, together with Edingale, Fulford near Stone and Hill Ridware near Rugeley won the Community Spirit Award, all scoring 100 per cent marks.

Edingale won the small village community award. From left: BKVC manager Jo Cooper, Edingale’s Jim Meikle and headline sponsor Richard Winterton.

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 per cent each.”

Gnosall won the large village community award.

Chair of the judges William Read said: "The 2023 level of entries was, as usual, excellent and in particular, the village of Edingale shone brightly.

"It's strong sense of community, green initiatives and general environment was brought to life in a highly detailed submission. This village is very worthy of three awards."

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. The Winterton name has been synonymous with auctioneering in Staffordshire since 1864 and the family firm said it was honoured to support BKVC as county-wide sponsor in 2023.

Richard Winterton helped to announce the winners at the BKVC presentation evening.

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 go online here or call the Community Foundation’s BKVC Manager Jo Cooper on 01785 339540.

Richard Winterton Auctioneers was once again headline sponsor for Staffordshire’s Best Kept Village Community Competition.

Staffordshire's Best Kept Village Community is managed by the Community Foundation for Staffordshire, a local charity and company that helps to deliver grassroots level funding to local communities across Staffordshire, managing circa £3m per annum.

The organisation specialises in philanthropic management and increasing involvement from all members of the community.

The Best Kept Village Competition for Staffordshire started in 1956 and has been run every year except 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

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