Express & Star

Shake-up for Staffordshire's Best Kept Village competition

A long-running best-kept village competition is getting a revamp to mark the new decade.

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Jo Cooper manager of Staffordshire Best Kept Village Community competition with sponsor Richard Winterton of Richard Winterton Auctioneers

Staffordshire Best Kept Village competition, which has been running since 1956, will see the launch of a new website bkvc.org.uk allowing villagers to upload photographs, documents and video or drone footage.

The contest, which is being renamed Staffordshire Best Kept Village Community, will also see a change in emphasis reflecting the role of community life as well as visual beauty.

Organisers say the shake-up will allow villages to show off their communities on an on-going basis, rather than the usual two-day visit, although each entrant will still be visited.

To help explain the changes, The Community Foundation for Staffordshire, which runs the competition, has created a series of roadshows across the county, with one being held at Wombourne Community Centre in Church Road from 10.30am to 12pm on Monday

Competition manager Jo Cooper said: “With so many changes in society since Best Kept Village started in 1956, we felt it necessary to create a competition that is fit for the 21st century.

"We want to celebrate the wonderful communities across the county so there’s more ways to showcase villages by placing everything online and we’ve simplified the entry process by creating a digital platform making it quicker and easier for all villages to enter."

She added that support was available for people who were not able to enter online.

Jo Cooper, manager of Staffordshire Best Kept Village Community competition, with sponsor Richard Winterton of Richard Winterton Auctioneers

Lichfield-based Richard Winterton Auctioneers will be the new main sponsor of the competition.

Best known for his appearances on BBC Bargain Hunt, Mr Winterton said he and his team would be at the roadshow, and would still be visiting every village that enters the competition.

He said: "The Best Kept Village competition has become something of an institution across this wonderful, diverse county.

"And like all great institutions, it has the ability to adapt and grow.

"As we move into a new decade for the 21st century, it's so fitting that the competition will focus on exciting new digital horizons while never losing sight of the roots."

He added that his family business had been in the county for seven generations since 1864.

"We are very much looking forward to meeting even more people from all over the county and hearing what makes their community special to them," said Mr Winterton.

The Community Foundation for Staffordshire is a charity that provides funding to grassroots organisations in the county, awarding about £1 million per annum.