The CLA and the Royal Isle of Wight Agricultural Society will present prestigious new awards to celebrate rural life on the Isle of Wight at Sunday’s Royal Isle of Wight County Show.
The awards reflect the work and focus of the society and the CLA, including trophies for rural businesses, young people, schools and food businesses. They also recognise those individuals and businesses who represent the very best of rural achievement on the Isle of Wight.
Winners will be crowned at the Royal Isle of Wight County Show on Sunday 8th July in the Show Theatre from 14:45.
The categories in the Isle of Wight Rural Awards are:
– Rural Business of the Year
– Rural Young Person of the Year
– Isle of Wight Primary School of the Year
– Wight Marque Food Business of the Year
– Sustainable Business Champion
– Isle of Wight Farm Worker of the Year
The panel of judges, made up of Gill Kennett from the Royal Isle of Wight Agricultural Society, CLA Senior Adviser Claire Bennett and independent judge Robert Lovegrove, has been assessing, meeting and interviewing the shortlisted finalists ahead of Sunday’s show.
Mrs Bennett, from CLA South East which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses across the Isle of Wight, said:
“We at the CLA are proud to be a part of the rural community on the island. We wanted to give back to this community and recognise some of the key players which make this island as beautiful as it is, so we therefore came up with the idea of these awards.
Article continues below this advertisement “We hope this is the start of something which can grow, as a way of saying thank you to this amazing community.”
Graham Biss, Vice Chairman of RIWAS, said:
“Part of RIWAS’ charitable role is to raise awareness of rural issues on the Isle of Wight, and we also want to celebrate our successes.
“These new awards will showcase the success of rural industries on the island, and our awards for schools and young people will demonstrate the very positive future of rural life here.”
The Farm Worker of the Year and the Sustainable Business Champion will also be announced at the show on Sunday.
For more information visit https://www.riwas.org.uk/county-show.
