ESTATES, farms and land-based businesses that have helped their local region to flourish have been recognised at the first-ever Helping it Happen awards ceremony.
Organised by Scottish Land & Estates and sponsored by The MacRobert Trust, winners were announced across seven diverse categories from housing to tourism, education to conservation.
The Helping it Happen initiative was launched by Scottish Land & Estates in late 2014 to highlight how landowners on estates and farms across Scotland can play a key role in delivering benefit and enabling success in rural Scotland. More than 200 case studies have been compiled, culminating in the inaugural awards held in Edinburgh.
The event was hosted by former Scotland and British & Irish Lions rugby internationalist, Doddie Weir, and attendees at the dinner also played their part by raising money for charity partners RSABI and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.
David Johnstone, chairman of Scottish Land & Estates, said: “People who have the interests of rural Scotland at heart know that the best way to achieve vibrant and successful communities is to work together towards common goals.
“Landowners and estates are often stereotyped as detached and remote from communities and it is important that we continue to change that perception and show what has and can be achieved.
“Helping it Happen demonstrates much of the unsung work that estates, farms and other land-based businesses undertake.”
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