Folly Farm Centre, a sustainable venue in the Chew Valley, south of Bristol have been awarded bronze for Sustainable Tourism at the inaugural Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards on 19 October.
Laura Rawlings from BBC Radio Bristol announced winners from each of the 20 different categories to excited cheers. Each entrant had gone through a rigorous three-stage judging process, taking into account websites, reviews, social media, visits by industry ‘mystery visitors’ and finally a judging panel.
Folly Farm Centre has held sustainability at the forefront of business operations since opening in 2008. Owned and managed by local environmental charity, Avon Wildlife Trust, all profits from events are gift-aided to the charity, to protect wildlife and inspire people about the importance and benefits of nature. The Centre is located in Avon Wildlife Trust’s 250-acre Folly Farm nature reserve.
The converted 18th century farmhouse venue proudly boasts a variety of eco-features including: rain-water harvesting; bio-mass heating; solar-powered electricity and a reed-bed sewage system. Food is sourced locally and often picked from the wildlife-friendly kitchen garden, which provides delicious low food mile meals for guests including conference delegates, wedding guests and school children on educational trips.
This award adds to Folly Farm Centre’s previous recognition for environmental credentials including a Gold award from Green Tourism, the world’s largest sustainable certification programme of its kind and a silver award in the South West Fairtrade Awards earlier this year.
Folly Farm Centre's Director, Andrew Lund-Yates said: “We’re delighted to be winners in the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism awards. We are proud to offer a sustainable venue and group accommodation for a range of events, welcoming both business and leisure tourists, as well as group accommodation for visitors wanting to explore the Chew Valley and Mendip Hills AONB”.
John Hirst, Chief Executive, Destination Bristol said “We have been really pleased by the level of interest in the awards and I would like to congratulate all the winners. I am encouraged to re-focus on this again in the New Year and look for more ways to reward and acknowledge excellence within our industry. Thank you to everyone in making this event a huge success.”
For more details on visiting Folly Farm for education, conference, weddings, group accommodation or simply to visit the nature reserve, please visit: follyfarm.org