The Countryside Alliance Awards 2020, otherwise known as the Rural Oscars, have opened today for nominations!

The Awards are a national scheme that celebrate and promote rural communities, highlighting those people who go the extra mile to ensure that rural Britain’s food and farming industry, small businesses, traditional skills, forward-thinking enterprises, and most of all, its people can flourish.

In June this year, for the Rural Oscars 2019, we celebrated Brackley Butchers winning Best Butcher nationwide and being recognised as the Countryside Alliance’s Champion; we also saw the New Inn in Abthorpe winning the regional award in the Midlands for the best pub, and Sulgrave Village Shop and Post Office being highly commended in their category of best village shop.

This year, the 15th that the Awards have been running, there are seven categories:

• Local Food Award

• Village Shop / Post Office Award

• Rural Enterprise Award

• Butcher Award

• Rural Pub Award

• Game Champion

• Clarissa Dickson Wright Award

The boost these Awards generate cannot be overestimated, and I know from speaking with Brackley Butchers and the New Inn at the presentation ceremony in the House of Lords just how much of a positive impact the recognition has had on everyone involved.

Anyone can nominate online at www.countryside-alliance.org/caawards, and I encourage as many of our fantastic rural businesses to go forward for an award.

Best of luck to everyone in South Northamptonshire! If you are nominated, please do let me know so that I can showcase this on social media and in the local press.