• Peter Richardson

Community-led Health and Wellbeing Prize Winners 2025

This Gloucestershire Village of the Year category, sponsored by One Gloucestershire , looked at how our villages support everyone in their communities to stay healthy, active, and well, through activities to promote physical and mental health on a regular basis.

Here's a chance to find out what the judges thought about the communities which won prizes in this category, and the outstanding things that people in these villages are doing to support community-led health and wellbeing.

Winner - Highnam

Highnam (in Tewkesbury Borough) won the £2,000 first prize in the Community-led Health and Wellbeing category of Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2025.

This community has made efforts to construct and promote facilities to encourage exercise, connectivity, and health, such as a footpath with maps installed that runs right around the village, a cycle path connecting with the wider area which allows for active commuting options, a football club with 18 teams, and volunteers maintaining local woods so they are accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs as well as walkers. The Good Neighbour Scheme, set up during Covid, is still running and now includes the popular Good Neighbour Café. A Pop-Up Pub not only provides opportunities for general socialising and entertainment, but also uses profits to support groups within the village. Most recently, volunteers have planted a community orchard, alongside the existing allotments and residents’ "help yourself" boxes sharing excess produce.

The judges came away with a very strong sense of a well-organised, engaged, and active community that provides a range of opportunities for physical activities, mental stimulation, social activities, volunteering and individual support. 

Runner Up - Painswick

Painswick (in Stroud District) won the £1,000 runner-up prize in the Community-led Health and Wellbeing category of Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2025.

The judges were impressed with the range of activities and facilities available in this community, and particularly with the efforts made to promote inter-generational engagement. Particularly noted was the consideration given to accessibility across many of the public indoor and outdoor spaces or venues. Activities include sports and fitness, arts, parent and toddler groups, and social activities such as a community hub, winter pop-ins, and Community Lunches in the autumn and winter. There is also a strong volunteering ethos, providing one-to-one support including lifts to medical appointment, help with shopping, dog walking, befriending, and more.

Overall, the judges found the village welcoming, buzzing with activity, and keen to ensure people feel included, with a commitment to accessibility, intergenerational cohesion, and encouraging all residents to remain engaged, active, and healthy.

Highly Commended - Gotherington

Gotherington (in Tewkesbury Borough) was awarded "Highly Commended" in the Community-led Health and Wellbeing category of Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2025.

The judges were keen to recognise this community for the variety of sporting facilities, fitness classes, walking groups, and other opportunities for exercise available. They were also impressed by the long-running good neighbour scheme that supports older residents with a 24-hr volunteer-run phone line and help with getting to appointments or even with garden work, the social groups which include a new Men’s Shed, and many other activities to support their residents to remain healthy, active, and engaged.