Grounds Maintenance, Landscape Creation, Arboriculture, Sports Surfacing, Parks management, IOS Managing Safely Training, Ecology & Biodiversity, Grass cutting, Horticulture, Street Cleaning, Soft Landscaping, Hard Landscaping
idverde provides a wide range of green services, including grounds maintenance, landscape creation, and advice services, to both private and public sectors across the UK.
The best kept villages in Wiltshire will celebrate their successes in a presentation day on Sunday 22nd September. The competition which runs annually, encourages village residents to work together, present their surroundings attractively and build a stronger community. This year it is being partly sponsored by idverde, Wiltshire Council’s contractor for grounds maintenance.
For the fourth year, the ‘Winner of Winners’ will also be presented with a tree by CPRE Wiltshire’s Countryside Ambassador, Carly Paoli, a world-famous soprano, Wiltshire resident, and supporter of the environmental mission of the charity. Carly said: “Congratulations to Urchfont for winning the Winner of Winners award for the second time in Wiltshire’s Best Kept Village competition. I was delighted to present a Mountain Ash in 2021 and have seen it flourish ever since. This is an incredible achievement as it takes so much time, commitment and effort to maintain our countryside and to such a high standard. Our countryside is so precious and I am sure that anyone who lives or visits Urchfont is appreciative of all that the villagers do to make it such a beautiful place.”
Ashton Keynes, Upper and Lower Seagry, and Hankerton came top in their respective size categories and are this year’s overall winners.
Urchfont has won the Laurence Kitching Award – also called the Winner of Winners’ competition – out of the six winning villages from the last two years (2022 and 2023).
Two awards in year’s CPRE Wiltshire Best Kept Village Competition have been sponsored by idverde for the first time. Paul Ashman, Community Engagement Manager for idverde in Wiltshire, said;
Each winning village will be presented with, and keep for a year, an eight-foot standard with mounted shield, emplaced prominently in their village. Award ceremonies will be held sequentially at the four winning villages on Sunday 22nd September when The Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Troughton DStJ, will pull away the Union Flag surmounting the shield. Commemorative plaques will be presented by Cllr Bridget Wayman, Chairman of Wiltshire Council. Certificates will be presented by the High Sheriff of Wiltshire, Dr Olivia Chapple OBE EMH. A plaque will be presented to Urchfont, the Winner of Winners” this year, by Paul Ashman of idverde. Separately, cash prizes and framed certificates will be awarded to each winning village and to 2nd and 3rd placed villages and to the Best Newcomer and Merit Award winners.
Making the Competition Work
Mike Manson, CPRE Project Officer responsible for running the Competition, said that;
