On Wednesday 14th October, CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) Sussex held their 2020 Countryside Awards. Held as a virtual event due to Covid 19, the Awards provided an opportunity to celebrate projects that enrich and support the Sussex Countryside. Nominations were divided into three categories:
- Empowering Communities: recognizing individuals who make an outstanding contribution towards conservation, biodiversity or climate change. The winner of this will be voted for by a public online vote and will be presented with The Peter Brandon Award.
- Connecting People and the Countryside: recognizing community groups, local enterprises and schools whose projects and initiatives contribute to enhancing and protecting the countryside and encourage engagement with the natural world.
- Promoting Nature and the Countryside: recognizing community groups and enterprises with inspiring projects and initiatives that contribute towards a sustainable rural community and thriving countryside.
Despite some tough competition, the Arun to Adur and Eastern South Downs Farmers Groups won gold (certificate below) in the Connecting People and the Countryside category for their Meet the Farmer videos. The initiative has proved very popular, with the 13 videos receiving over 5,000 views to date. Plans are afoot to spread the initiative to the other farmers groups on the South Downs, allowing people to find out more about the great work farmers are doing in their area.
