2025 Awards

Brimscombe Mill

From 2021–2024, the Grace Network transformed the long‑derelict Brimscombe Mill into a thriving base for its social enterprises. When they took on the lease, the site was severely dilapidated, with collapsed roofs, crumbling walls and decades of neglect.

A committed collaboration of professionals and volunteers cleared the grounds, repaired major structural issues and restored 1,000m² of roof and extensive guttering within two months.

Over three years, more than 60 volunteers contributed thousands of hours to create workshops, kitchens, retail spaces and community areas. The £160,000 restoration is praised by conservation officers for its light‑touch approach, retaining historic fabric while teaching volunteers specialist skills such as glazing the mill’s 450 unique windowpanes.

Award citation:

For the sympathetic restoration of a traditional mill and associated buildings through a blend of professional and volunteer effort, bringing them back into productive use as a thriving hub of social enterprises

Isbourne Arts

When Winchcombe’s former Methodist Church was placed on the market in 2022, the community launched an ambitious effort to save it. A new charity secured funding to purchase and convert the building into Isbourne Arts, an arts and community hub that opened in 2024. The interior was sensitively reconfigured to include a 150‑seat performance space, gallery, bar, box office and accessible facilities, with a studio and kitchen space downstairs. Original features such as stained‑glass windows and pews were carefully retained alongside modern heating, glazing and access upgrades. Run by around 30 volunteers, the venue now hosts theatre, live music, markets and community events under a long‑term business plan ensuring its future sustainability.

Award citation:

For a well-considered scheme that benefits and enhances the provision of arts and community activities in Winchcombe, whilst maintaining the heritage of its base, the former Methodist Church.

Painswick Beacon Conservation Group

Painswick Beacon is a 60‑hectare SSSI with rare grassland, woodland, archaeological features and heavy visitor use; making biodiversity management complex.

Over the past decade, the Painswick Beacon Conservation Group has delivered extensive conservation through 800 volunteer hours annually, tackling scrub clearance, improving paths, restoring grassland and introducing virtual‑fenced cattle grazing. Their work has protected habitats for species including Musk orchids, Rugged Oil beetles, Duke of Burgundy butterflies and Juniper. In 2024 the site was selected for the reintroduction of the Large Blue butterfly.

Volunteers are now trained in vegetation monitoring, and the group actively engages the community through outreach and partnerships with Natural England, English Heritage, the Golf Club and the Parish Council.

Award citation:

For instigating and continuing conservation management of Painswick Beacon – protecting and promoting its rich biodiversity by actively engaging local people and the wider community and securing support and recognition from national agencies.

Sapperton Wilder

Founded by Dr Jonathan Milner, Sapperton Wilder aims to prove that regenerative agriculture can restore depleted land while supporting viable food production. The project began in 2021 on former Bathurst Estate arable fields with extremely poor Cotswold Brash soils. Using an evidence‑based approach, the team trials methods such as agroforestry, livestock rotations, natural flood management and innovative technologies. Close partnerships with researchers; including MSc and PhD students and local volunteers drive monitoring and experimentation. Early results are strong: breeding woodlarks have returned to Gloucestershire for the first time in six years, endangered species such as dormice and reptiles are increasing, and rare plant species are re‑establishing. The initiative demonstrates major biodiversity and community benefits.

Award citation:

For both the inspired and practical implementation of regenerative farming and nature recovery, that maximises returns for the natural environment, maintains food production and benefits the whole community.

The Sensory Garden at Stratford Park

The new sensory garden at Stratford Park was created through wide‑ranging community involvement to transform a neglected former putting green into a welcoming space for all ages. Led by Stroud Valleys Project with Stroud District Council, Creative Sustainability and designer Sarah Watts, the project drew on ideas from diverse groups including nurseries, Brownies, mental‑health charities, schools and volunteer organisations.

Volunteers helped shape a series of sensory zones offering colour, fragrance, texture and calm spaces near the park’s café and leisure centre. The garden continues to evolve through ongoing consultation and participation.

It stands as an exemplar of community‑led design, bringing people together to create an inclusive, stimulating and accessible outdoor environment.

Award citation:

For the imaginative involvement of numerous volunteer groups to create a well-designed welcoming sensory garden to be enjoyed by the whole community.

The Sunground, Avening

The Sunground development addresses the urgent need for rural affordable housing with a sensitively designed scheme that fits well within Avening’s character.

The project delivers nine homes for social rent and five for shared ownership, arranged around a modest courtyard with a children’s playground. Its simple, well‑detailed designs follow the District Council’s Design Code, using materials that reflect local buildings. All homes meet modern performance standards and include air‑source heat pumps and solar PV to reduce energy use.

Despite the rural setting requiring car access, parking and highways design are handled unobtrusively. The scheme makes a meaningful contribution to rural housing needs, supporting a community where such homes are vital yet often scarce.

Award citation:

For a sensitively designed and detailed project that provides urgently needed social rental and shared ownership housing, and that fits within its surroundings.

Woodmancote Community Space and Playpark

Woodmancote’s new community space and playpark, created on land leased from the Parish Council, is a testament to grassroots determination. Once run‑down and unused, the site was transformed in just over a year by a dedicated group of residents who drove the design, fundraising and implementation.

Supported by CrowdFund Cotswold, Enovert Community Trust and Bromford Housing Association, the project installed new play equipment, landscaping and social spaces for all ages. The playpark now hosts fitness activity, children’s play and community events, revitalising village life and encouraging new friendships.

Neighbouring communities have begun using the space, and other parishes are seeking to learn from Woodmancote’s successful, community‑led approach.

Award citation:

For a multi-generational community space and playpark, initiated, designed and created by the community, establishing a well-used area for all.