Free digital copy
Get Speciality Food magazine delivered to your inbox FREE
Get your free copy23 March 2009, 15:07 PM
- On 18th March 2009 the national Countryside Alliance Awards were handed out at a Parliamentary reception in London. The Awards, nicknamed “The Rural Oscars", honour the countryside through the people who work so hard to preserve its communities, traditions and enterprise.
The Countryside Alliance Awards started life as the Best Rural Retailer competition. The Awards are a Countryside Alliance initiative. First conceived of in 2005, they were borne of a need to support and promote rural communities. The Countryside Alliance had long felt the “doom and gloom” tales of rural decline, while true to an extent, did not accurately reflect the spirit of rural people and the efforts of thousands to keep their communities alive.
This Best Rural Retailer competition, now the Countryside Alliance Awards, helps to sing the praises of our unsung rural heroes. This year’s winners are as follows:
Local Food Award: Newlyns Farm, Hook, Hampshire. “A family run farm, farm shop, cookery school, community hub and charitable fundraiser, Newlyns is straight out of the top drawer and Hampshire is lucky to have it. The commitment to top quality produce is total, and it’s impossible to list how much this family does for farming and for its community, and all with a great sense of enjoyment, which is as it should be.”
Post Office/Village Shop Award: Morgan’s Newsagents and Post Office, Llangadog, Carmarthenshire. “As well as fighting for the survival of the Post Office and operating an outstanding village shop Win Morgan and husband Richard are the centre of this isolated community, drawing people of all ages together with their great warmth. This award is as much for the personalities behind the counter as for the vital services they provide.”
Traditional Business Award: Wellington Carriage Company, Telford, Shropshire. “Philip Holder’s 40-year-old business centres around building bespoke carriages out of English produce for his clients. Rural Enterprise Award: Loch Visions, Kilchrenan, Argyll.
Rural Hero Award: Ian Pigott. “Hertfordshire-based Ian dreamed up Open Farm Sunday, a national event that opens the countryside up to a whole new audience and promotes farming in an accessible way. Over 400 farms held events on the third annual Farm Sunday in June 2008, and Ian’s simple idea of getting farmers to ‘recognise the importance and significance of reconnecting with the consumer’ has fast become a summer staple.”
Countryside Alliance Political Awards
The Grassroots Award for community campaigning: Cllr Heather Kidd, South Shropshire District Council. The Westminster Award for bringing the countryside to Parliament: Bill Wiggin, MP for Leominster. The Rural Vision Award: Lord Hanningfield:
