In 2008, as far as we know, Crooke Village won it's first prize. Calor Gas ran a 'Village Of The Year' competition and the award was presented to the Crooke Village Co-operative for their 'Community Spirit' achievement.

A plaque was awarded to the Residents of Crooke Village Co-operative in recognition of their efforts and commitment in improving the community spirit.

It is with great pride that we can announce that Crooke is one of the winners in the North West In Bloom competition. Of the five grades of judgement levied by the challenge, we were judged to be one of the best on our category and out of five grades, 1 being the poorest, we were rated at 4. Jim Haynes and Graham Foster attended a presentation at the Town Hall. Jim’s email from 2nd November covers the event:

Jim’s email - 2nd November 2011

Good morning all,
Yesterday evening Graham and myself attended the "Wigan Borough in Bloom Big Thank You" presentation. The event was to say a big thank you to those people who made an exceptional contribution to the 2011 Wigan Borough in Bloom campaign. People and groups from all parts of the Borough attended with awards in various categories.
All of the groups who were involved in the North West in Bloom campaign received recognition and were presented with a framed certificate. After receiving our certificate Graham & I sat back to enjoy the rest of the proceeding and noticed about 12 trophies which were for special achievements. At that point we decided that our target for next year was to win one of those.
Both of us were astounded when we were called and presented with two of them, one a silver plate presented by Wigan Borough in Bloom and the other a glass trophy sponsored by Standards of the Wiend, both are inscribed " Best Developing Community Project ". That moment coupled with our success in getting next to the top level in the North West in Bloom Its your Neighbourhood category has made the work of the last two years worth while and has provided us with a goal for next year.
On getting back we called into Crooke Hall and Liane has offered the use of one of the trophy cabinets in the Crooke Hall Inn so that we can have them all on display which we felt would be the best way of displaying them for all of the village and visitors to see.
It's a long time since I've felt so proud and I would thank everyone who has made this possible, I just wish that you could have been there to enjoy the moment, it was very special.

Regards
Jim

Our next award came earlier this year when, through 'North West In Bloom' we were presented with the 'RHS It's Your Neighbourhood' award. We Achieved level 4 –“Thriving”. This is next to the top level in this category and as this was the Villages first year of entry into the competition it is regarded as an exceptional result.

This was followed by an award entitled 'Big Thank You'. The Village received this award for the work and support given in supporting the North West in Bloom project.

The next award was entitled 'Best Developing Community Project'. It was Awarded to the Residents for the effort put into developing the community spirit, developing relationships with other parties and working towards improving the overall appearance of the Village.

Standards of the Wiend are a private company who have recognised the work put into developing various aspects within the village.

On Friday 25th. November 2011 the Shevington and District Community Association presented awards to two people for " service to the local community"

Jim Haynes Chairperson of the Crooke Village Residents Association.
Paul Green for his work in producing and maintaining the Crooke Village Residents association website.

All the awards have been placed in a glass cabinate, courtisy of Lianne McPhelim, the landlady of 'The Crooke Hall Inn' in the front room for all to see.