Richard Winterton’s Best Kept Village Community Competition, which took place virtually in light of the Covid-19 Pandemic has announced the winners of this year’s competition!

Communities across Staffordshire have been hard at work participating in the Richard Winterton Best Kept Village Community Competition (BKVC) this year. The competition, which is managed by The Community Foundation, was held virtually for the first time since it began in 1956 this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the circumstances, many communities across the county were keen to get involved and share their stories. Traditionally the competition has involved several rounds of judging where volunteers travel to the various communities across Staffordshire to judge their efforts in the competition. However, as this was not possible this year, the decision was made to amend the competition into a virtual event where participating communities could create their own ‘portfolio’ of events and activities happening where they live. These were then submitted electronically to The Community Foundation for judging.

The calibre of entries for 2021 was high and we would like to congratulate all who participated this year and a huge well done on all you have achieved in your local community, you should feel tremendously proud.

We  are delighted to announce the Virtual BKVC 2021 results as follows:

Winner of the Richard Winterton Auctioneers Award for Community Spirit – Hill Ridware

Winner of the CPRE Staffordshire Award for Community Spirit – Brewood

Winner of The Community Foundation Award for Community Spirit – Wombourne

Richard Winterton, sponsor of the competition, states “This year’s BKVC has highlighted the many thriving, diverse communities in our wonderful county and we look forward to the 2022 competition taking shape in the coming months.”

Jo Cooper, who manages the competition had this to say, “Many of the entries received this year as part of the virtual BKVC focused more on the community and really captured how well communities came together, particularly through the pandemic, to support one another. This is something that will undoubtedly be included in entries that are received for the competition next year, when we return to a full, traditional competition. I would like to thank all communities who showcased their community this year and say a huge well done to you all.”