Forest Holidays supports 2018 CPRE Hampshire Countryside Awards

Forest news

30/04/18

Forest Holidays is delighted to announce that, for the first time, we will be sponsoring the CPRE Hampshire Countryside Awards.

Now in their 12th year, the awards run by the Hampshire branch of national charity CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, celebrate a beautiful, diverse and living countryside that everyone can value and enjoy. The spirit of this can be found in a diverse range of projects, buildings, businesses, services and social enterprises – from large to grass roots level. To date over 100 projects have been recognised, since the inception of the awards 11 years ago.

In previous years, Forest Holidays Blackwood Forest have both won and regularly been shortlisted for the awards but for the first time we will be bringing our expertise to these important awards by sponsoring one of the four categories. The Young People Award recognises projects educational establishments, youth groups, scouts, guides, cubs, brownies and youth offender programmes.

Our very own General Manager at Blackwood Forest, Katie Brothers, will be the lead judge in this important category. Katie will be looking at various projects which engage with a large number of young people and the effectiveness in connecting them to the countryside. Leaving a legacy - either through the project’s long-term sustainability or by producing information from which others can learn is also looked at favourably by judges. Providing accessibility for all children is key – including children with disabilities or a diverse range of young people.

Katie is very enthusiastic about her role as lead judge and states “After being a winner and a finalist at the CPRE Awards, I am really looking forward to finding out and visiting the various projects run by young people who are making a difference in connecting people to our beautiful Hampshire countryside. At Forest Holidays we support local communities and tourism and work closely with the Forestry Commission to protect our forests, so it is exciting be a part of the 2018 CPRE Hampshire Countryside Awards.”

Find out more about the CPRE Hampshire Countryside awards at cprehampshire.org.uk