THE first ever Greener Gateway Community Awards took place in the Borders this week with eight villages, towns and individual projects recognised overall.
The celebration saw community groups and projects commended for their contribution to civic pride across a range of categories, acknowledging their efforts to make their community, vibrant, sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The new awards programme continues the tremendous legacy of the successful ‘Floral Gateway Competition’ which ran for nearly 20 years and has been refreshed in light of the Climate Emergency declaration made in 2020.
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Two new award categories; the Cultivating Communities Award for community food growing and the Sustainability Award provide special recognition for individual projects or initiatives with a particular focus on climate change.
The full list of winners in each category were:
Wee Village Award (maximum population of 300) - Birgham
Large Village Award (population between 1,001 and 2,500) - Lauder
Town Award (population over 2,500) – Duns
Border Biodiversity Award - Lauder
Cultivating Communities Award – Burnfoot Community Futures
Sustainability Award – Lauder
Councillor John Greenwell, Executive Member for Roads Development and Maintenance, said: “Firstly I would like to congratulate all of the winners from last night’s event for their achievements which are richly deserved.
“The Greener Gateway Community Awards is one small way we can as a Council thank the communities and community groups for the countless hours they volunteer towards keeping the towns and villages across the Borders looking so vibrant and cared for.
“It’s tremendously positive to see so many individuals and groups actively engaging in projects within their respective towns and villages. It was wonderful to gather together in-person to celebrate all this hard work, and to hear the many conversations had, sharing ideas and experiences around what can be achieved.
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“In the coming months we will be reaching out to all community groups across the region to refine the awards process for next year, ensuring that they are as inclusive as possible.”
Councillor Jenny Linehan, Executive Member for Environment & Transport, said: “Our refresh of the awards this year has allowed us to place a greater focus on climate change and on the importance of sustainable practices, recognising the growing significance of these two issues and the efforts made within our communities to address them.
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“A huge well done must go to both Burnfoot Community Futures and Lauder who won the Cultivating Communities and Sustainability awards respectively and demonstrated clearly the sustainable practices and ethos at the very heart of their projects.”
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