Essex Village of the Year and Best Kept Village Competition

Sponsored by Essex & Suffolk Water and Worldbridge Ltd. and supported by Essex Life

The competition is all about encouraging vibrant, enterprising and caring rural communities. The judges will be looking for those villages which, irrespective of size, are doing most to enhance the quality of life for all inhabitants.

How to Enter

Each village must have a sponsoring organisation that submits its entry. This will normally be the Parish Council but does not have to be. If the Parish Council is the sponsoring organisation, it is important to consult with community groups and other interested parties before submitting the entry. There may be other people in the village only too keen to help out and even take a lead.

 For judging purposes the competition is divided into two elements. Please note there are important changes to both this year.

 Entry Form 2013.doc  Entry Guidelines 2013.doc

Village Profile – the previous checklist style questionnaire has been replaced by just five questions on the themes of Community, Businesses and Services, Environment, The Future and a Special Place. This will give you more flexibility to describe your community in your own words. Remember, this is your opportunity to “sell” your village!  

Larger villages – under questions 1 and 2 please note that we do not require a list of every community organisation or business, just those of particular significance. The size of the community will be taken into account when marking this section. 

 Remember this is a snapshot profile; please keep to the word limit for each question and note that no supporting documents are required.

Judges’ Inspection – every village will be inspected by our volunteer judges. Judging this year will be based on 12 individual categories worth 10 marks each. Few villages will actually possess every one of the 12 categories, but smaller communities should not be deterred. Overall marks are calculated on an average formula. The” Hints for Entrants section What Makes a Winning Village?”gives an idea of what the judges will be looking for.  

To enter please tick clearly on the Entry Form those categories that are applicable to your village and also mark them clearly using the category numbers on a sketch map/plan of the village. This must be no larger than A4 (297mm x 211 mm) in size.  

There is space on the Entry Form for you to highlight any improvements made since last year’s competition as well as to notify the judges of any features detrimental to the local character that are outside of the control of the community.

2012 winners

Best Kept Churchyard Competition

This competition looks to recognise and reward Churchyards in Essex that are well-managed, providing a peaceful haven for both humans and animals. We encourage entries from Churchyards of all denominations.

Guide to Churchyard Management Plans



2012 winner is the churchyard of St Nicholas Church, Laindon

Essex Life Community Magazine Awards

Local magazines are a much loved part of community life. They play an important role keeping people informed, entertained and up to date with what is happening locally.

RCCE have teamed up with Essex Life and the Diocese of Chelmsford to bring you a new-look competition. With an awards evening, we hope to provide support and encouragement to all those who work hard to produce these magazines.

The awards are open to editors of not-for-profit community magazines in which editorial work is undertaken on a voluntary basis.

For further information please contact Sara Ward on 01376 574330 or email: sara.ward@essexrcc.org.uk