Gloucestershire Village of the Year: What does it take to be a winner?
We’ve been visiting past winners to see what makes a truly vibrant village, and to catch up with how village life has been developing for past winners since their competition success.
Bisley near Stroud was Gloucestershire Village of the Year in 2011. The judges were really impressed with Bisley’s fantastic village hall activities and exercise groups, the village’s community composting project, thriving allotments, their new community orchard, and much more.
“The village hall is still thriving,” said parish and district councillor Martin Brown. “It’s a hive of activities, there’s something happening every day of the week, ranging from yoga and fitness, and Busy Bees for toddlers, to annual events such as the big flower show and fete, and the annual pantomime.”
“It’s a lively village, a great community. For example, we have two well-supported pubs, a drama group, our community composting scheme, allotments, community orchard, and we’re already organising the village bonfire and fireworks! We also have a really active nature and climate group. Last August when we ran a Bio Blitz one-day nature survey, we had 60 people taking part, noting down birds, bees, flowers, bats, reptiles and so on.”
Parish councillor and allotment warden Lesley Greene was involved in Bisley’s Village of the Year winning entry in 2011. “Entering the competition really gave the village a great incentive to get our village orchard off the ground,” said Lesley. “Now the orchard is fully mature, and we have a great group of volunteers looking after it, including some of the original enthusiasts. The trees are providing a lot of free fruit for the village, and we’ve planted a new edible hedgerow too.”
The Bisley allotments, which were thriving in 2011, are even more popular today: “Since 2011, the number of plotholders has doubled, and we’ve expanded the area of the allotments,” said Lesley.
Bisley Community Composting Scheme, based at the allotment site, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and is still going from strength to strength. “The composting scheme now has 160 members. It’s been so successful, with so many people wanting to join, that we’ve had to limit the catchment area to just our own parish,” said Lesley. “We’ve managed to inspire another community composting scheme to form nearby, which will be opening this spring. We’d love to support other communities in Gloucestershire to set up their own composting schemes – you can get in touch with us via www.bisleycommunitycompostscheme.org.uk”
To find out how to enter your village in Gloucestershire Village of the Year, head to www.grcc.org.uk/VotY You can enter four categories, each of which has a £2,000 first prize and £1,000 for the runner up, plus you could win another £2,000 as the overall winner or an extra £1,000 as the overall runner up. There’s also plaques and framed certificates for all the winners and runners up, and a special Volunteer of the Year certificate awarded by Gloucestershire’s High Sheriff.