The Duchess of Northumberland has helped to celebrate the very best in community and voluntary environmental work across the county at this year’s LOVE Northumberland awards ceremony. 
 
Thirteen groups, organisations, schools and individuals were honoured with winner, runner-up or highly commended awards across six categories in what is now the event’s 12th year. 
 
Representatives of all shortlisted entries were invited to attend the event at The Alnwick Garden, which was hosted by BBC Radio Newcastle presenter Anna Foster. 
 
In the Schools Go Smarter Sustainable Travel Award, Eastlea Primary School took top spot. Over the past year they’ve organised a whole host of activities to encourage pupils to walk, cycle or scoot to school through the fantastic pupils in the School Council Brainwaves group.  
 

Judges said the school are 'always looking for new ways to promote sustainable travel and provide the children with the life skills to take part in these events’. 
 

They are currently looking at a new project to buy 10 bikes for their younger children to use at lunch and breaktimes - giving every child the opportunity to learn to ride a bike even if they do not have one at home. 
 

The Best Children’s & Young People’s project winner was the 1st Whittingham BP Scout Group. They have been undertaking environmental work and hikes into the countryside since they were formed in 2004, but have pushed the links with local estates, volunteers and businesses since the start of lockdown getting the children out into the open air, learning in a safe way during the pandemic.    
 

The beavers, cubs, scouts and senior scouts have been working with Linhope Estate, the College Valley Estate, the village in Whittingham, their leaders, the Royal Forestry Society and local experts to re-stake trees planted a few years ago, to clear damage from Storm Arwen, plant wildflower seeds and learn about the countryside.  
 

The group also helped the local community by cooking a meal in the village hall after Storm Arwen for those without power and heating and delivered plants to vulnerable residents during lockdown to enjoy in partnership with Community Action Northumberland and Age UK. 
 

Highly Commended were Cramlington Youth Council - a group of 26 students eager to support a community they love, they meet weekly to discuss issues important to them and their ideas help to shape Cramlington Town Council strategy.  All the group are volunteers, they meet during their break time and lunch times, and carry out a range of community, self help and environmental work. 
 

Runners-up in this category were Groundwork North East for their Green Futures Project. Five young Kickstart employees (aged 18 – 25) have worked enthusiastically in their role at Pegswood Country Park over the past year  to build their skills in green jobs and conservation. 
 

They have created lasting improvements to the park as well as nearby green spaces including Pegswood Woods and Ashington Woods working along “Friends of” and local community groups. 
 

This year the Best Urban Project was awarded to Seghill Clean Team. Created in March last year it’s run by three local residents who wanted to address the issues of rubbish, litter, fly-tipping and general maintenance in their community.  
 

In a short space of time, they have achieved such a lot including clearing masses of historic and more recent rubbish from their village, the surrounding countryside and the Seaton burn. Their main focus is in making the best of the space for all to enjoy. 
 

They’ve also set up a wildlife viewing area beside the Seaton Burn in Seghill Dene, planted flowers around the village and set up a memorial orchard at Trinity Grove.
 

Joint runners-up were Friends of Eastwood Park and Friends of Furnace Bank. 
 

The Miners Lamp Community Café and Hub opened in 2019 and since then the Friends they have built on making Eastwoods Park even better. 

They’s made environmental improvements, host a range of groups and activities and even commissioned a permanent beacon to celebrate the platinum jubilee. 
 

Friends of Furnace Bank was set up four years ago. Their main aim is to continue to keep this area a clean, healthy environment for the local wildlife, flora and fauna, the river and visitors.  The work they do benefits the whole community as they are the “eyes and ears” of the woods.  
 

Highly Commended were Friends of Crofton Field for their project - Transforming Crofton Heap. With 30 volunteers, their aim is to improve access on foot, rejuvenate the woodland, improve its wildlife potential, provide opportunities for community involvement and research the history of the site through a ‘Living History’ project.  In a short period, much progress has been achieved. 
 

The Restoration of Cresswell Pele Tower was crowned Best Coast or Countryside Project. This scheme has transformed a roofless, vandalised ruin into a fully restored and accessible historic building for current and future generations to enjoy and appreciate.  
 

As well as restoring the tower they have also done a huge amount of work, with the help of volunteers, improving the woodland that surrounds the tower by removing masses of debris and rubbish, planted over 100 native trees and planted a variety of wildflowers and bulbs including 2,000 bluebell bulbs.  In years to come this will be a wonderful wildlife haven. 
 

Runner up was Embleton Quarry Working Group - a small band of volunteers with a wide range of skills and boundless enthusiasm and commitment. Together, they manage the former quarry and waste site on behalf of the community and seek to build links with outside agencies to help them in their work. Their goals are to protect important habitats and wildlife, improve public access, protect historic interest and encourage environmental education.  
 

There were also three organisations Highly Commended: 
 

Acklington Parish Council for their footpath restoration bringing overgrown and neglected pathways smothered in dense brambles. back to their former glory. As soon as the brambles go, and the light floods in, the bluebells, cowslips and wild orchids burst back into life. 
 

Carham 1018 Society & Battlefields Trust was recognised for its project to research a little known, but vitally important, episode in the history of the area, and to explain how a border between the then emerging nations of England and Scotland came to be fixed along the line of the River Tweed.   The main public event was a living history and re-enactment weekend  
 

The third Highly Commended project was the Fifth Point Diving Centre. This group have been together for five years and meet on a weekly basis.  They regularly carry out litter picks as part of their organised scuba dives or on land to collect litter from beaches or riverbanks. 
 

The Best Community Response to Climate Change Emergency was won by Sustrans for the Wylam Waggonway. This is both an active travel route and wildlife corridor running parallel with the River Tyne between Wylam and Newburn and has been upgraded to improve accessibility through resurfacing and removal of barriers.   
 

Throughout the project they have engaged with people in a number of ways to show the benefits of using the upgraded route and the wider National Cycle Network as a means for people to travel more sustainably and to reduce their carbon footprint whilst enjoying this wonderful corner of Northumberland.  
 

This involved local community groups and schools through activities such as running guided rides to showcase the improvements and encourage people to travel by bike or on foot instead of by car. 
 

This year there were two Outstanding Individual awards – one for Land Project, the other for Marine Project. 
 

The Marine Project winner was Jane Hardy. Jane and her husband moved to Northumberland from Lancashire in 2003, they had met whilst scuba diving off the Farne islands. Ever since then Jane has dedicated her time to the protection of the coastal environment and the wildlife in the region. She is one of the most senior marine mammal medics in the North East and responds to injured or stranded mammals (mainly seals). 
 

As the Regional Fundraiser for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), she has raised in excess of £20,000 for equipment, education and veterinary care. 
 

Jane also works with the staff at Paws4Thought to respond to injured animals and has fostered and released 100 hedgehogs back into the wild. She is a supporter and spokeswoman for all animals, regularly devoting time to wildlife studies, environment protection and public education.
 

The Land Project Winner was Jane Hodson-Hamilton – nominated by Ponteland Parish Council.  
 

Jane started litter picking during the pandemic and has not stopped since.  Just about every weekend and on some weekdays, Jane is out litter picking in Ponteland and beyond. The Town Council have supplied her with all the equipment she needs for her own use but also when she organises other litter picking events. 
 

The amount of rubbish she has collected is phenomenal (just over the Easter holidays she collected 75 bags of rubbish)– until recently she was taking this to her local Household Waste Recovery site but not before sorting it into recycling and general waste, thankfully there are now arrangements in place with the county council for them to collect the bags from her. She covers a tremendous amount of areas in Ponteland. 
 

Jane is passionate about the environment and wildlife. She is lobbying the Darras Hall Estate Committee to provide “butt bins” for the bridleway and other areas on the Estate.  She is involved with the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and has got them on board with the project. 

 
The annual awards were developed by Northumberland County Council through its LOVE Northumberland campaign, with the aim of promoting the work of the council and its many partner organisations, community groups and volunteers who all help to preserve and enhance the environment in the county. 
 
County Council Cabinet member for Local Services John Riddle said:  "All the shortlisted entries should be very proud of their work - there are some fantastic examples of communities working together across our beautiful county. 
 
“These awards recognise the true heroes of Northumberland and provide a great opportunity to showcase all that has been achieved in the last year in helping keep our communities environmentally friendly.  
 
“We would like to congratulate each and every finalist for what they have achieved in their work and projects.” 
 
Each winning entry in the awards received a £250 prize, each runner-up £100 and highly commended finalists £50, with the money to go towards their project or other work within the local community.  Outstanding individuals also received a small cash prize and a trophy. 
 
To find out more about LOVE Northumberland go to www.northumberland.gov.uk/love