Launch of new National Trust Beatrix Potter Awards
28 November 2016
This Anniversary awards scheme celebrates different aspects of Beatrix’s work and interests by recognising the lives and activities of people today, reflecting her on-going legacy in the 21st Century.
The Awards Scheme is open to nominations in various categories, to people and businesses living and working within Cumbria.
The Awards fit perfectly in this year of nomination for World Heritage Site status, as Beatrix Potter and all she did, and left in her legacy, form a major part of the culture of Cumbria in the 21st century.
It’s simple – you either nominate yourself, or someone nominates you. Nomination is free for all the awards.
John Moffatt, General Manager South Lakes properties said:
“We’re proud and excited to launch these awards as the culmination of the celebrations this year and to recognise individuals or businesses who continue to demonstrate Beatrix Potter’s dedication to Cumbria and the Lake District.”
For full details go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrixpotter .
Join in the conversation: #BeatrixAwards.
Award Categories:
1. Story Illustration
Beatrix was inspired by nature – this award is open to adults and children within Cumbria, who’d like to redesign the cover of a favourite book. You choose a book that is somehow inspired by nature – for example The Hungry Caterpillar, Swallows and Amazons or The Old Ways. It’s up to you to choose your favourite. Our only request is that your new design should be on our ‘book cover’ template downloadable from the website.
Age categories: Young artist (7 and under); junior artist (8 – 11); senior artist (12 – 18) and adult (18+) living within Cumbria.
2. Looking after Landscape Award
This community based award celebrates the creation and careful management of local landscapes for nature and/or cultural heritage across Cumbria. We’re looking for small independent groups (formal or informal) who’ve worked together to create or care for habitats for native species and where communities have worked together to protect their cultural heritage. This could be the creation of a new habitat or the care of long established places, perhaps a village pond, local woodland, meadow or orchard.
3. Farming with Nature Award
Farmers are the primary managers of our countryside, providing us with our rural landscapes and views, producing food and managing the environment. For this award we’re looking for farm businesses that exemplify this role as ‘custodians of the countryside’, integrating wildlife and habitats within their agricultural operations and being passionate advocates of this important work.
This award is looking for the best examples of nature-rich farming within the landscapes and systems recognised and cherished by Beatrix Potter – livestock farms within the Lake District National Park, which showcase a positive and harmonious relationship between the farming system and the habitats and natural processes which support it.
4. Herdwick Champion Award
Beatrix Potter, or Mrs Heelis, was a strong champion of the Herdwick breed. She bred, kept and showed Herdwicks: an extraordinary achievement for a woman from London to do in the early twentieth Century. This award recognises the Herdwick champions, those hard working individuals whose lives are dedicated to producing Herdwicks of the highest quality, or who add value and status to the breed, its story and its products, and who encourage and work with the next generation of farmers and shepherds to ensure a future for the Herdwick sheep on the Lakeland fells.
5. Local Hero Award
We’ve so many local community heroes across Cumbria; this award is open to volunteers working in their local community to care for places enjoyed by all. Maybe you’re running a community garden, or helping with the local youth groups; or keeping the community clean and tidy or perhaps you were involved in enabling communities to recover from the 2015 floods.
Your actions might be motivated by a need for change in your local area or you might have overcome personal challenge to make a difference to your neighbourhood.
We are looking for individuals or groups with dedication, organisation and really inspire those they work with who to have positive impact on their local area.
6. Community Business Award
Beatrix Potter was an astute business-woman. She wanted to sell her books and merchandise far and wide, in order to give her more income, to buy farms and land in the Lake District. She said in a letter to Harold Warne in 1908 “I have been talking to the Bank about the money for buying a field in Sawrey. Can I have a cheque for £100 last week November and a small cheque early December? I shall pay part of the price on Dec 1st and there will remain to pay in the future a sum of £300 at 4%, which need not cause any anxiety as the books are doing so well”
We want to celebrate local businesses that have a similar ethos to Beatrix, - demonstrating their passion for Cumbria, and who contribute to the area and its communities, putting something back directly to support the Lake District.
We’ll be working closely with our partners, the University of Cumbria for this award. Your business should be trading for less than 5 years, and have a clear positive, social, community and environmental impact on the Cumbria economy. The business must generate the majority of its income through trade.
Sarah Stables, Enterprise & Business Lead said: “The University of Cumbria’s business school has a long history of supporting local businesses and budding entrepreneurs and is delighted to support the National Trust and the Beatrix Potter awards. It has also recently signed a ground-breaking agreement, a first collaboration of its kind in the country, with the National Trust to cement their future working relationship across a number of initiatives for engaging with local communities and help secure the excellent reputation and continued prosperity of Cumbria.”
7. Looking after Beatrix Potter’s Legacy Award
This recognises an individual who regularly works to look after part of Beatrix Potters’ extensive legacy. This could be caring for the collections, working in the local community or on the land she left to the Trust.
Find out more at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrixpotter and how to enter.
Join in the conversation with #BeatrixAwards
The awards are open from 14 November to 7 December with a Cumbrian Awards Ceremony will be held on February 8th 2017.
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