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Wilder Kent Awards

Wilder Kent Award Winners 2023

Meet the Gold Award Winners

Like the Wilder Kent Volunteer Awards, these awards are an opportunity to celebrate the work of nurseries, schools, colleges, universities, community groups and villages, towns and cities across the county. They acknowledge the hard work and action taken to create a Wilder Kent whilst ensuring that people and wildlife co-exist for future generations.  

We are all aware of the global threat of the climate and nature crises – at times we may feel helpless and powerless to do anything about it. These awards give us the opportunity to demonstrate the positive actions people are taking locally which have an impact on the global situation we face.  

The Awards event was an excellent way for us to celebrate the incredible achievements of our participants. Not everyone could be there for the day but we thank them everyone for their hard work, help and support.  

With the Wilder Kent Awards there are three main areas of the award – Protecting Wildlife, Sustainability and Carbon Reduction and Engaging with Nature. Each of these organisations have demonstrated ways that they are helping by taking positive action to create a wilder community. 

We had a lot of interest in the awards and are pleased to announce that over 65 organisations applied. We wanted to share this image showing the geographic reach of this scheme across the county. You can see the impact that participants are having to create a Wilder Kent.   

The awards are graded from commendation through to bronze, silver and gold.

Commendation

We would like to show our commendation to the organisations who are just starting out on their Wilder Kent journey, and they should all be incredibly proud of all they have achieved so far.

These groups have begun creating wild flower areas for pollinators and have put up bird boxes and created bug hotels in efforts to create a home for wildlife. Some have been growing their own produce, making use of water butts and compost bins within their grounds. Many are beginning to promote recycling as well as making efforts to cut down on their use of paper and plastics. These groups have so much potential, and we can’t wait to see what they do for the Wilder Kent Awards 2024.

  • Ashford College​
  • Kingsdown & Ringwould CofE Primary School​
  • Parochial CofE Primary School Deal​
  • The Lenham School​
  • Twydall Primary School and Nursery​
  • University of Kent Conservation Society​
  • VIAT at Aylesford Primary school​
  • St Gregory's Catholic School
  • Christ Church CEP Academy Folkestone
  • Walthamstow Hall Junior School

Bronze Award

This set of schools and groups have achieved a bronze award, many for the first time, and we’d like to thank them for all of their hard work so far.

These organisations have given over more of their grounds to wildlife, including letting larger areas of grass grow. They have shown great dedication to creating habitats for wildlife, including bird and bat boxes, hedgehog homes and even some basic ponds and water features. These organisations are beginning to monitor and improve their energy consumption in an effort to achieve sustainability and reduce carbon emissions.

In their attempts to engage with nature, we were delighted to see these schools and community groups coming together on occasions, working in collaboration with each other to create a better home for nature. We look forward to supporting these groups on their journey in 2024 towards gaining a silver or a gold award.

Congratulations to:

  • Chattenden Primary School​
  • Halling Primary School​
  • Iwade Community Primary School​
  • Lyminge Primary School​
  • Newington CEP School​
  • Ramsgate Holy Trinity C.E. (Aided) Primary​
  • Rochester Independent College​
  • Shorne Wildlife Community Group​
  • Snowfields Academy​
  • St Peters Methodist Primary School​
  • The Friends of Victoria Park​
  • The Malling School​
  • The Old Cherry Orchard, Higham​
  • St Joseph's Catholic Primary School ​
  • 8th Deal (Wingham) Scout Group  
  • Allington Millenium Green Trust  
  • High Halstow Primary Academy  
  • Junior King's School Canterbury 
  • Oakwood Park Grammar School 
  • Teynham Parochial CofE Primary School
  • The Abbey School

Silver Award

Many of these were schools and groups who applied last year and have improved on their bronze or commendation awards – so congratulations!

This year, these groups have worked even harder to protect wildlife and create wilder spaces, including working closely with grounds staff to increase the areas allowing wildlife to thrive, often completely removing the use of pesticides and chemicals within their grounds. Many have created dedicated wild areas within their grounds and have worked hard to maintain these habitats for wildlife, including the creation of large ponds or water features that sustain a variety of life.

These groups have made increased efforts to monitor and improve their energy and water consumption, including some making commitments to go plastic free. In their efforts to engage with nature, many of our silver award winners have shown excellent collaboration with other groups and communities outside of their own, including engaging with parents, town councils and local MPs, running “nature in crisis” campaigns and helping to create wild areas locally for all.

The efforts of all of our silver winners this year have been amazing and we can’t wait to receive the entries for next year, in anticipation of them maintaining their silver award for 2023 or even achieving the prestigious gold award! Congratulations to:

  • Broadstairs College EKC Group​
  • Bearsted CAN​
  • Chartham Primary School​
  • Dandelion Time​
  • Friends of Broomhill​
  • Lynsted Community Kitchen Garden (LCKG)​
  • Northfleet Technology College​
  • Oaklands School​
  • Tenterden Town Council​
  • Valley Invicta at Holborough Lakes​
  • Wellesley Haddon Dene​
  • Westerham Town Council
  • Abbey Court - Larkin Farm 
  • Blean Primary School
  • Crook Log Primary School
  • Dover College Prep School
  • Dulwich Prep Cranbrook
  • Heath Farm School 
  • Ightham Primary School
  • Oakley School
  • Parkside Community Foundation Primary School 
  • Queen Elizabeth's
  • St James' Primary School
  • St Peter in Thanet CE Junior School
  • Wouldham All Saints Primary School

Gold

A huge congratulations to this year’s gold winners.

  • Brabourne CEP School​
  • Holy Trinity and St John’s CEP School​
  • Pennies Day Nurseries​
  • Spadework​
  • University of Kent
  • Goat Lees Primary School

Our gold winners have truly gone above and beyond in their quest to help us create a wilder Kent.  

Goat Lees Primary School have created a wildlife haven within their grounds, including repurposing wooden pallets as bird hides so that the children can observe the visiting wildlife without disturbing it. Their pond is a home to many native creatures and they carry out regular monitoring to ensure the habitats they have created are healthy and thriving.  

For Pennies Nurseries, this is their second year achieving Gold in the Wilder Kent Awards and it’s great to see that they’ve maintained all the excellent work from previous years whilst also continuing to develop their partnering schemes to help create more areas for wildlife locally.   

Holy Trinity and St Johns have worked hard to reduce their carbon footprint by installing solar panels and using locally sourced produce, including vegetables grown in their own community allotment. All veggies are grown organically and the site is proud to be totally chemical free.  

Pupils at Brabourne CEP School’s Eco Team have shown entrepreneurial spirit and green-thinking by turning a small vegetable patch into a thriving profitable business, using profit generated to invest in bee hives and chickens and helping the Garden Enterprise grow from strength to strength. Based on the schools’ green principles, a small school of just 105 pupils has been able to generate £600 profit which they will invest back into the project and other green ideas.  

Spadework Community Group have made their 5-acre site a real haven for wildlife, including adding bird boxes, hedgehog homes, bat boxes and beehives, as well as a well established, providing homes for a range of wildlife. Wildflower seeds are planted across the site, areas are left specifically for long grass and techniques such as companion planting and rotation methods are used to increase wildlife diversity.  

The University of Kent have developed a robust landscape and biodiversity strategy which ensures the entire campus supports a range of wildlife as well as hosting a biodiversity forum which allows students and staff to directly engage in decision making and project creation. With 300 acres of woodland and seven ponds across their sites, there is plenty of space for wildlife to thrive at the University of Kent.  

All our gold winners should be incredibly proud of all they have achieved and can now act as shining examples for other schools and institutions to follow. 

Thank you to everybody that has taken part in our Wilder Kent Awards this year. We are proud of all your achievements and thank you for your contribution to helping us create a #WilderKent