CPRE Countryside Award winners announced
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CPRE Centenary Awards celebrate inspiring people and projects
helping the English countryside to thrive. The winners are Bethany
Handley from Wales, Stephanie Gardiner from Cumbria and Merrick
Denton-Thompson from Scotland. The winning projects are Bourne
Green in Oxfordshire, Barlows Park community facility in Hampshire,
Northern Roots in Greater Manchester and Never Walk Alone from
Fences and Frontiers in Greater London. Winners were announced at a
ceremonyat...Request free trial
The winners of the Campaign to Protect Rural England's Centenary Awards were announced yesterday, Thursday 29October2026, during a ceremonyat the Houses of Parliament. For a century, CPRE has championed positive change, from helping toestablishNational Parks to securing Green Belts and championing innovative renewable energy projects. The awards recognise practical solutions that protect,enhance and promote the countryside across England. The winner of the Best Housing Solution is Bourne Green, a 12-home development in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, built after residents identified affordable housing as their priority through a five-year community-led process. The homes exceed Passivhaus standards and share what's believed to be Britain's smallest commercial microgrid, cutting energy bills below the price cap. The scheme includes a car club, a co-working hub and therapy rooms, alongside two new pedestrian bridges reconnecting parts of the village long separated by earlier development. The winner of the Best Rooftop Solar Solution is Barlows Park community facility, a volunteer-run community facility in Tadley, Hampshire, which faced closure with annual energy bills exceeding £12,000. A community infrastructure grant funded a 24.64 kWp rooftop solar array with battery storage. The system now saves the club £4,233 a year, with over £88,000 projected in savings over 20 years and 4,458 kg of CO2 offset annually. The club is already pursuing a second grant to replace its gas boilers and has inspired other sites to follow. The winner of the Best Green Space Project is Northern Roots, transforming 160 acres of former mines, mills and landfill into a green space for communities in Oldham. Over 8,000 local people took part in its activities and 400 were supported through social prescribing for physical and mental health issues. The project has improved 18,000 square metres of habitat, created four new ponds and planted over 2,500 trees. A six-acre urban farm and market garden now runs weekly produce sales, while local recruitment means over 60% of staff come from the surrounding area. The winner of the Best Access to the Countryside Project is Never Walk Alone from Fences and Frontiers. Never Walk Alone is a walking project helping refugees and asylum seekers access the countryside around London. Over eight years, 86 guided walks have offered 1,000+ places across 55 green spaces, with food and equipment fully covered. Participants build confidence and community, with many progressing from attendee to volunteer guide. Never Walk Alone shows how removing practical, financial and social barriers can open the countryside to some of society's most excluded communities. The winner of the Countryside Changemaker is Bethany Handley. After becoming a full-time wheelchair user in her twenties, Bethany found herself shut out of the countryside by stiles, gates and barriers. She has since worked with charities and local authorities to raise awareness. She co-produced training films that helped volunteer groups replace 68 stiles and clear eight miles of paths in Monmouthshire alone. As an ambassador for Country Living's Access for All campaign, she helped build a UK-wide map of accessible walks. Her book, My Body is a Meadow, and appearances on BBC Radio 4 have brought countryside access to a national audience. The winner of the Young Countryside Changemaker is Stephanie Gardiner, who joined Friends of the Lake District as a volunteer in 2023 before being appointed its Engagement Trainee in 2025. She has gone on to lead the Go Wild Under the Stars project, engaging over 300 primary school children across Cumbria in tackling light pollution and drove the Great Cumbrian Litter Pick, which brought together 34 groups and 278 volunteers to clear 156km of countryside. She also launched a new Youth Voice Project, giving young people aged 18 to 25 a direct say in shaping the charity's campaigns and policy work, ensuring their perspectives help protect the Cumbrian landscape's future. Finally, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Merrick Denton-Thompson OBE FLI PPLI, who has shaped how Britain's countryside is planned, farmed and protected for over four decades. As County Landscape Architect for Hampshire, he pioneered Landscape Character Mapping, later adopted nationwide, and helped establish the first Countryside Stewardship Scheme in 1985. He forced a public inquiry into the Twyford Down M3 bypass, despite opposing his own employer, securing lasting EU environmental protections. He founded Learning Through Landscapes, transforming school grounds and environmental education for generations of children, and later served as President of the Landscape Institute. He continues to lead pioneering work on regenerative farming and countryside governance well into retirement.
Roger Mortlock, chief executive of the Campaign to
Protect Rural England, said: |