Rural Trailblazers Shine As Finalists Unveiled For Helping it Happen Awards 2024

Press Release
22 Aug 2024

 

Over 30 exceptional organisations, businesses, and individuals transforming rural Scotland revealed as contenders for prestigious national awards

 

Scotland's rural champions are set to take centre stage as the Helping it Happen Awards 2024 shortlist is unveiled today. 

Organised by Scottish Land & Estates and sponsored by NatureScot, the awards celebrate those making remarkable contributions to the vibrancy and sustainability of Scotland's countryside across 11 diverse categories, including education, conservation, farming, and rural business.

This year's finalists epitomise innovation, dedication, and community spirit, showcasing initiatives that deliver huge benefits right across rural Scotland.

 

COMMUNITY HEROES LEADING THE WAY

The Working With Communities Award highlights inspirational efforts to enhance local lives across Scotland. This year's standout nominees include:

  • Attadale Estate: Celebrated for their unwavering support and hosting of the iconic Lochcarron Highland Games, fostering community pride and tradition.

  • Mount Stuart Trust: Recognised for its extensive engagement programme that bridges connections between schools and the farming community, cultivating learning and collaboration.

  • East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative: A dynamic partnership dedicated to over a decade of environmental enhancement and conservation in East Ayrshire, revitalising natural spaces for future generations.

  • Ballantrae Rural Initiative Care in the Community (BRICC): A testament to volunteer power, having raised an impressive £2 million over 20 years to provide essential support to the elderly residents of South Ayrshire village.

 

CHAMPIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

Acknowledging exceptional efforts in safeguarding and enhancing Scotland's natural beauty, the Enhancing Our Environment through Land Management Award nominees are:

  • Glenfalloch Estate: For their visionary landscape recovery project, restoring and rejuvenating natural habitats on an impressive scale.

  • Auchlyne & Suie Estate: Commended for pioneering sustainable practices, bolstering conservation efforts, and educating the public on effective environmental stewardship.

  • Skye Iconic Sites Project (SISP): Recognised for a transformative three-year initiative addressing environmental challenges posed by over-tourism, ensuring the preservation of Skye's cherished sites.

  • Caerlaverock Estate: Celebrated for creating thriving habitats such as ponds supporting species like the Natterjack Toad, while seamlessly balancing agricultural productivity and community engagement through education and outreach programmes.

 

Beyond these categories, the awards will also honour tourism and visitor management achievements, rural property innovation, emerging rural talents, and impactful climate change initiatives through the coveted Iver Salvesen Award.

 

Sarah-Jane Laing, Chief Executive of Scottish Land & Estates and chair of the judging panel, expressed her enthusiasm:

"The quality of entries this year has been truly inspiring. From every corner of Scotland, we've seen incredible stories of passion, resilience, and innovation that are driving our rural communities forward. The competition has been exceptionally fierce, and we are really excited about celebrating the outstanding achievements of our finalists and winners at the awards ceremony this October."

 

Claudia Rowse, NatureScot's Deputy Director of Green Economy and judge on the Helping it Happen panel, added:

“The quality of applications for the Helping it Happen Awards this year has been inspiring. These businesses and community groups show us the positive ways there are to build a resilient rural economy while adapting to the changing climate and valuing, protecting and restoring nature. The nominees are creating thriving rural communities today and ensuring that there will be a nature rich future for tomorrow.”

 

JOIN THE CELEBRATION

The Helping it Happen Awards ceremony promises to be a night of celebration and inspiration, taking place on Wednesday, 2 October, at The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh. The event will bring together leaders, innovators, and supporters of Scotland's rural sector for an evening honouring the extraordinary efforts that continue to shape and enrich rural life across the country.

 

The finalists for the Helping it Happen Awards 2024 are:

The Conservation Award sponsored by Anderson Strathern

  • Ocean Plastic Pots strives to eliminate plastic pollution from the ocean and coastline, diverting it away from landfills, and transforming a negative environmental issue into a positive and sustainable product as plant pots built for resilience, longevity and recyclability.

  • Grosvenor Reay Forest Estate Project Laxford is a landscape-scale, ecosystem-wide, conservation project, working in partnership with The Atlantic Salmon Trust across the River Laxford catchment, with the goal of restoring wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout populations.

  • Minuntion Estate is a family-run farm and sporting estate with a firm focus on conservation, particularly regarding wading birds and life in and around the River Stinchar. They continue to look for opportunities to improve biodiversity and are committed to farming with nature.

 

The Education Award sponsored by Hampden & Co

  • Countryside Learning Scotland is an award-winning charity established in 2003 with a commitment to sustain a thriving rural economy and take pride in improving access to environmental activities and industries, nurturing future countryside custodians.

  • Estates that Educate Scotland’s Regional Moorland Groups provide outdoor education to showcase the wealth of wildlife thriving on Scottish estates and to help young people learn about rural careers.

  • Scottish Association of Young Farmers ‘Cultivating Leaders’ Programme offers young farmers the opportunity to build skills in leadership, advocacy and business knowledge with a group of like-minded individuals, under the guidance of industry leaders and experts.

  • Royal Northern Countryside Initiative was created to give young people an insight into rural life and provide balanced information about agriculture, sustainability and the importance of rural communities - hoping to encourage the next generation to pursue careers in the countryside.

 

The Enhancing Our Environment through Land Management Award sponsored by NatureScot

  • Glenfalloch Estate has embarked on a transformational landscape-scale recovery project emanating from the environmental masterplan written in 2021, focussed on restoring peatland, increasing woodland cover using seed sourced and grown on the estate, and plans to restore meadow and wetland habitat whilst also reducing herbivore impact. 

  • Auchlyne & Suie Estate is a family-run, diversified estate based on traditional values, with a deep commitment to improve all aspects of conservation including extensive peatland restoration, and a focus on education for London-based youngsters who benefit from regular video calls.  

  • The Skye Iconic Sites Project (SISP) was a ground-breaking environmental restoration and protection project to solve problems caused by overtourism at the Old Man of Storr, the Quiraing and the Fairy Pools in Skye - including building and maintaining paths, bridges and viewpoints to protect the environment, working closely with the community. 

  • Caerlaverock Estate covers six thousand acres and its biodiversity project ‘Link Caerlaverock’ involves the creation of ponds, wildlife corridors and meadows to maximise the protection and restoration of its unique ecosystems and biodiversity, living in harmony with nature.  

 

The Innovation in Farming Award sponsored by EQ Chartered Accountants

  • Angus Growers is a soft fruit producing partnership of sixteen growers mainly from Angus, Perthshire and Fife, which through innovation in sustainability, production, packing and responsible farming has led to a substantial fall in the carbon footprint of its members. 

  • Hyrneside Agriforestry has embraced the concept of incorporating trees into their farming plan for the sole purpose of supporting the environment and has planted hundreds of apple trees alongside the farm’s traditional arable crops and livestock. 

  • Grampian Graziers are agro-ecological graziers whose herd of beef cattle is continually moved across a range of pastures, utilising a low-input farming method which makes the cost of keeping livestock significantly lower than on conventional farms, while delivering increased plant diversity, soil health and carbon gains. 

  • Sweethope Farm is run by David Fuller-Shapcott who has been involved with numerous trials to improve the efficiency of farming methods including data collection using surveys, GPS and AI, as well as a scientist-led yield enhancement network and study of resilience against slugs. 

 

The Iver Salvesen Award for Combatting Climate Change sponsored by Murray Beith Murray

  • Peacehill Farm is a family farm producing cereals, potatoes, vegetables, chickens, pigs and cattle, with an Anaerobic Digestion plant installation to add an income stream, reduce costs and supply renewable energy locally. 

  • IndiNature has established a mill in the Scottish Borders to manufacture biobased materials for construction and other markets, namely hemp, which is grown at local farms and turned into natural fibre insulation for old and new construction.  

  • Carbon Capture Scotland, based in Dumfries and Galloway, plans to remove up to one million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year by 2030. Working with Energy From Waste (EFW), distillers, firms and biomethane plants, they can deploy technology to capture biogenic CO2 emissions from various processes.  

 

The Rural Business Award sponsored by Shepherd + Wedderburn

  • The Humbie Hub is a village shop, Post Office and café with community at its heart, providing essential services which have transformed the area - offering employment, stocking local arts and crafts, acting as a strong community hub, powered and heated by renewable energy. 

  • Claxton’s Whisky has operated from the Dalswinton Estate since 2018 and, in that time, several major redevelopments on the estate have taken place, including revitalising redundant farm buildings and constructing a new bonded warehouse. 

  • The Crichton Trust is a project of national importance as a model for both the re-purposing of a significant historic site and for the delivery of education, training, enterprise and knowledge exchange, free and accessible to the public year-round, with a vibrant business and academic community.  

 

The Rural Property Award sponsored by Bidwells

  • Kishorn Heritage Ltd is a family-owned and operated principal construction and engineering contractor based in Inverness, specialising in restoration, conservation and bespoke quality builds, sourcing skilled labourers and materials locally. 

  • Glengorm Farming Partnership led by Tom Nelson, with support from the Mull and Iona Community Trust (MICT), has seen the delivery of much needed new affordable homes on the Isle of Mull. 

  • Kildrummy and Glenkindie Estates consist of 15,000 acres of a traditional sporting estate, which is being transformed by restoring habitats, using renewables, restoring houses with original materials, recruiting staff from the local community, and rebuilding a strong connection between people and the environment. 

 

The Rural Rising Star Award sponsored by Scottish Woodlands

  • Iona Smith grew up on a pedigree beef and sheep farm in Ayrshire and graduated from SRUC with an Honours Degree in Rural Business Management, is currently working towards becoming a Chartered Surveyor, as well as being involved with on and offshore renewable projects.  

  • Charlie Davis is an experienced land manager with a background in conservation, sustainability, and social science, advising rural businesses on sustainable management of the natural environment and building partnerships across private, public and third-party sectors. 

  • Sophie Handley leads The Estates Office in Argyll, a boutique land management company and Chartered Surveying practice which specialises in delivering a high calibre, personal service to land and estate owners.  

  • Wallace Currie lectures in Agriculture at SRUC and has played an integral role in the creation, delivery and refinement of a new model of teaching, conducting assessments in a more holistic manner with work placements incorporated into the teaching structure.  

 

The Tourism & Visitor Management Award sponsored by GLM

  • Attadale Gardens is privately owned with a woodland, conservatory, sunken garden and Japanese garden on the NW coast of the Highlands, with notable collections, encouraging visitors to stay in Lochcarron to provide business opportunities to the local economy.  

  • Beinn an Tuirc Distillers produce Kintyre Gin and other award-winning spirits and now boasts a beautiful café, shop, gin school and geodesic dome that hosts wellness retreats, promoting ‘slow tourism’ and keeping sustainability at the heart of the estate. 

  • David Hope-Jones has unleashed new energy, ambition and optimism in the South of Scotland’s visitor economy by co-developing a Responsible Tourism Strategy with unprecedented ambition for the region, which is proving to be enormously successful. 

 

The Working with Communities Award sponsored by Media House

  • Lochcarron Highland Games is held in Wester Ross every July, hosting a variety of athletics events and children’s competitions in which visitors and locals can take part, engaging with numerous volunteers from the community and raising funds for local charities.

  • Ballantrae Rural Initiative Care in the Community (BRICC) is a community run charity staffed by volunteers, currently raising funds to build a care home for local elderly members of the community wishing to live near their families and remain in the village.

  • Mount Stuart Trust is a charitable trust which works to facilitate public interest, understanding and appreciation of the arts, architecture and the rural environment – with a commitment to the Isle of Bute at its heart.

  • East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative is a successful partnership between the local authority, conservation bodies and industry, working over the last decade to enhance, conserve, and promote the environment in East Ayrshire while supporting communities in the Coalfield region.

 

The Award for Outstanding Contribution to Rural Scotland 

  • To be announced at the awards ceremony

     

Judges’ Commendations

  • Sustainable Kirriemuir is a voluntary organisation set up to take positive climate action and transform Kirriemuir into a sustainable, net-zero community. Since 2019 a number of projects and initiatives have been driven forward to combat climate change.

  • Propagateis a small social enterprise working with schools and colleges, communities, farmers, public and private sector across South and West Scotland delivering projects that develop skills and knowledge and facilitate education and learning for sustainable food and farming. 

  • Josh Donaldson aka ‘The Litter Picker’. Josh Donaldson’s commitment to collecting rubbish has become a full-time job as he chooses to not only dispose of rubbish appropriately, but also recycles 60-80% of what he finds. He has rented a yard to sort rubbish and his plan is to create a business model where rubbish can be sorted, recycled and used to create saleable items to fund the operation.