2007 national best practice champions announced

The national winners of the Community Empowerment Awards have been announced. At a presentation ceremony on 5 October 2007 at the NALC Annual Conference and Exhibition, Buntingford Parish Council, Hertfordshire, Smarden Parish Council, Kent, and Lighthorne Heath Parish Council, Warwickshire, were announced as the 2007 national winners in the categories of Young People, Older People, and Housing respectively.

This is the second year that the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), in association with the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), has run the Community Empowerment awards. The awards were developed in order to help the CRC establish an experience sharing network across the country, and the response to the new scheme has been excellent.

Dr Stuart Burgess, chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities commented, "These best practice champions are there for you to use throughout the year. It is by sharing experiences bad and good that the sector can benefit, and serve communities to the best of our abilities."

Cllr Ken Cleary, chairman of NALC said: "At this time when the profile of town and parish councils are more prevalent in the minds of central government and other key decision makers than at any other juncture in the past, these best practice champions will help to provide others with the tools to assist in the day to day workings of councils, and enable to sector to meet the challenges of empowering communities and citizens."

In addition to the national award winners the judges felt that there were councils in each category whose work they particularly wanted to highlight and also added a Highly Commended Award. Winners of this award include Yattendon Parish Council, and Wingham Parish Council.

Each of the national winners will receive a contribution of £1000, to use towards a community project in their area. The highly commended councils will receive an additional £600 for a community project.

Full list of winners

Young People

Buntingford Town Council, Hertfordshire - Winner

• Proactive an innovative project, with ideas to build on for the future.
• It is encouraging participation and democracy in a real way.
• Shows the problems which were encountered and how they were overcome.
• Focus on turning young people into citizens

Caddington Parish Council - Highly Commended

Ufton Parish Council - Highly Commended

Older People

Smarden Parish Council, Kent - Winner

• Offers a range of activities, includes social and practical aspects.
• It is innovative, and older people are not just passive participants.
• The scheme helped to keep people in the village. The project didn't just stop when the shelter accommodation project was going to take time; they looked at solutions which could be implemented now.
• The scheme has also provided a connection between young people and old people.

Morpeth Town Council - Highly Commended

Housing

Lighthorne Heath Parish Council, Warwickshire - winner

• Not just about housing but an integrated package.
• Based on the starting point of the parish council itself, the progress which they have made is phenomenal. Negative start to a positive outcome.
• The council actively went out and involved families who had given up hope, to show them that things can be achieved.

Yattendon Parish Council - Highly Commended

Wingham Parish Council  - Highly Commended

Notes for Editors

1. The National Association of Local Councils is the national representative body for 10,000 community, parish and town councils throughout England and Wales. In all, there are over 100,000 community, parish and town councillors throughout England and Wales. These councillors, who serve electorates ranging from small rural communities to major cities, are all independently elected. The councils have powers to raise their own funds through council tax. Community, parish and town councils provide employment for over 25,000 staff while their annual expenditure exceeds £400 million. Together, they can be identified as the nation's single most influential grouping of grassroots opinion-formers. Over 15 million people live in communities served by 10,000 community, parish and town councils nationally - this represents up to 30% of the population. Over 150 new community, parish and town councils have been created since 1997.

2. The Community Empowerment Awards sponsored by the Commission for Rural Communities are designed to recognise, reward and share the experiences of best practice as performed by parish and town councils in England. The essential criteria for success in the awards are where parish and town councils show in their projects: engagement and participation, understanding and building community relations, sustainability, facilitation, identification of issues and needs, and action.

3. The Commission for Rural Communities as an independent statutory body operating as a distinct division of the Countryside Agency, across three main roles:

• Rural advocate: the voice for rural people, businesses and communities.
• Expert adviser: providing evidence-based, independent advice to government and others.
• Independent watchdog: monitoring and reporting on the delivery of policies nationally, regionally and locally.
• See also the website: www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk

For more information contact Alan Jones on 020 7290 0316/ alan.jones@nalc.gov.uk