Communities are being encouraged to get their entries in for this year’s Best Village Competition.

The Dorset Echo-backed celebration of rural pride brings communities together.

Magna Housing, which has been the main sponsor since 2010, is taking over the reins from Dorset Community Action to run the competition, which is open to all villages in Dorset.

Additional sponsorship comes from a number of organisations including the Dorset Echo, Dorset Waste Partnership, Dorset Campaign to Protect Rural England, Blackmore Vale Magazine and the Dorset Magazine.

Categories remain the same as previous years, with more than £2,000 in prize money that will be given away to the category winners.

Last year, west Dorset communities and groups won a clutch of accolades.

Winterbourne Steepleton won Best Hamlet, Langton Herring won Best First Time Entrant – one of seven villages competing for the first time – Allington Hillbillies won the Environmental Champions Award, and Duck’s Farm Shop at Portesham won Best Village Shop.

Rita Burden, a volunteer and one of the competition judges, has been part of the event for the last 30 years and in recent years has been the co-ordinator.

She said: “We are always delighted to receive entries from our faithful followers, but I would like to encourage those village communities who have not entered for a while, or have never entered, to come and join in with this exciting competition.”

She added: “Magna Housing has been a key part of the competition for the last 10 years and I’m delighted to continue working with them this year."

Besides from the Best Village award other categories included the People’s Project, Environmental Champions and the Best Village Shop.

Magna spokesman Catriona Fountain said: “The competition is a great way to bring communities together and help villages to thrive. We wanted to continue to support this fantastic event and we are really pleased to have the chance to run it this year.”

The deadline for entries in the Best Kept Village category is April 29. The deadline for all other categories is June 24.

Full information and the entry form can be found at magna.org.uk