Land Trust shortlisted for RICS and High Sheriff of Cheshire awards

The Land Trust is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted for three awards at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) North West Awards 2019.

The national land management charity has been nominated in the Community Benefit category for its work at the Countess of Chester Country Park and in the Tourism and Leisure and Regeneration categories for the charity’s work transforming Port Sunlight River Park.

The Land Trust took management of Countess of Chester Country Park in 2014. Working with managing partners The Conservation Volunteers and the Friends of Countess of Chester Country Park, a group of passionate volunteers, the site now delivers a huge amount of community benefit.

Situated next to the Countess of Chester hospital, the Land Trust’s innovative Health for Life project ran on the site between 2016 and 2018, with the results highlighting the huge mental and physical benefits that spending time in well managed green space can bring. The site is also host to a very popular parkrun.

The Friends of Countess of Chester were the driving force behind a project to mark the centenary of the end of World War One in 2018. The Fallen for the Fallen Poppy Trail is a three kilometre trail, guided by carved poppies that run through the streets of Upton and into the park. The project was a way of remembering soldiers from Upton, Chester.

Since taking ownership of Port Sunlight River Park, the Land Trust has overseen a transformation of the former closed landfill site into a 28 hectare park with an array of walkways, wildlife and wildflowers.

The area around Port Sunlight has seen huge economic uplift due to the effective management of the park, with property prices rising and local businesses thriving.

The Land Trust has also been shortlisted for an award at the High Sheriff of Cheshire Awards. Winners of Responsible Business Practice in 2018, finance apprentice Lauryn Parker has been shortlisted in the Apprentice of the Year category in 2019.

Land Trust Chief Executive, Euan Hall, said:

“We are really pleased to be nominated for these awards and to make the shortlist is recognition for everything that we have achieved at Countess of Chester Country Park and Port Sunlight River Park since we took responsibility for their management.

“We are also very lucky to work with such fantastic managing partners and passionate groups of volunteers who bring real added value and help us deliver so much charitable and social benefit, not just at Countess of Chester and Port Sunlight, but across our whole portfolio of sites.”

The RICS Awards winners will be announced on Friday 10 May, while The High Sheriff Awards take place on Thursday 28 March.