Contact us
Visit CPRE.org
Donate
CPRE Hertfordshire Awards 2022
Our ambition for the Awards is to recognise and celebrate inspirational people engaged in activities which enhance and protect the Hertfordshire countryside and its rural communities.
We held a wonderful Awards evening at County Hall on 18th October, three years since our last in-person Awards event. In 2020 we judged the nominations remotely and were unable to hold our usual Awards evening, while in 2021 we paused the Awards for a year. It was lovely being able to connect in person again with people involved with nominated projects.
We are very grateful to the Chairman of Hertfordshire County Council, Cllr Annie Brewster, for hosting the event and for her enthusiastic welcome. She said to the representatives of the nominated projects and people present ‘please know you are our rural heroes making the most amazing contribution to Hertfordshire life and I thank and congratulate you all’.
Our themes for 2022 nominations
In 2022 we invited nominations for projects which reflect our aims of
- connecting people with the countryside and their local green spaces
- promoting rural life and ensuring that communities can thrive
- improving and protecting the environment
Nominees could be volunteer-based projects or events, community groups, individuals, or small businesses. We also invited nominations for our category ‘Made in Herts’, to recognise excellence in sustainable farming and local foods, products using local materials, or traditional craftspeople and artists, in particular working in rural areas or with rural themes.
The Dorothy Abel Smith Award is for an outstanding project or activity run by or on behalf of young people (up to the age of 21) in the categories above. The Rural Business in the Community Award is for enterprises working in any of the categories.
The Results
We were delighted to receive 25 nominations for projects and people from all around Hertfordshire. Our team of four judges met all of them over the summer. This year, in addition to the Awards for each of the published categories, there were some awards which recognise special and topical achievements by nominees. The judges also decided to give each nominated project or individual a certificate recording their participation in the 2022 Awards: these were graded bronze, silver or gold.
Our thanks go to all those who submitted nominations, as well as to the nominated projects and people, all working so hard to protect, promote and enhance the communities and environments in which we live.
Summaries of all the nominations and the judges’ comments are available for review and are very inspiring. The full results are as follows.
The Dorothy Abel Smith category
Certificates were presented to:
Jake Gutteridge and Tarant Hobbs (Bronze)
The Go Wild at Hudnall Project (Silver)
Sunnyside Rural Trust (Gold)
The Walled Garden at Stanstead Bury Farm (Gold)
The Award went jointly to Sunnyside Rural Trust and The Walled Garden at Stanstead Bury Farm.
The Rural Business in the Community category
Certificates were presented to:
Emily’s Teashop, Whitwell (Bronze)
Groundswell – The Regenerative Agriculture Show and Conference/Weston Park Farms (Gold)
The Award went to Groundswell – The Regenerative Agriculture Show and Conference/Weston Park Farms.
The ‘Made in Herts’ category
Certificates were presented to:
Central and South Herts Beekeepers – Beginners Course (Bronze)
Sustainable St Albans – Open Food Gardens Project (Bronze)
Tring’s Own Apple Fayre (Gold)
The Award went to Tring’s Own Apple Fayre.
The Improving and protecting the environment category
Certificates were presented to:
Friends of Bunkers Park (Bronze)
Friends of Hitchin Cemetery (Bronze)
Friends of Woolmer Green Pond (Bronze)
Regina Gudisauskaite (Bronze)
The Refill Pantry (Bronze)
Clare Gooden of the River Hiz Conservation Group (Silver)
Friends of Wormley Open Spaces (Silver)
The Friends of Hanstead Wood (Silver)
Friends of the Rib and Quin and their Founder Mark Wilkinson (Gold)
Save Beane Marshes (Gold)
Welwyn Amenity and Planning Group (Gold)
The Award went to Save Beane Marshes.
The Promoting rural life and ensuring that communities can thrive category
The Beautiful Benington photography project received a Gold certificate and the Award.
The Connecting people with the countryside and their local green spaces category
Certificates were presented to:
Rights of Way Parish Surveyors (Bronze)
Braughing Parish Paths Group (Silver)
Heartwood Monitoring Group (Silver)
Hertfordshire Walker Website (Gold)
The Award went to Hertfordshire Walker Website.
Special Awards for 2022
An Award for excellent publications which connect people with the countryside
Heartwood Monitoring Group, for ‘Heartwood Butterflies’, ‘Heartwood Wildflowers’ and ‘Heartwood Arboretum’.
Awards for individuals
In a year when the state of Britain’s rivers has been recognised as a national crisis, the judges gave special awards to two people involved with nominated projects who have made noteworthy contributions to protecting Hertfordshire’s rivers:
Clare Gooden, founder and leader of the River Hiz Conservation Group
Mark Wilkinson, founder of the Friends of the Rib and Quin
Please join us
Would you like to be a part of our inspiring work to protect and celebrate the Hertfordshire countryside? Please get in touch if you’d like to volunteer, or join us and become a member of our charity.
