Inclusive Community Prizewinners 2025
Gloucestershire Village of the Year - results in detail
Disabled people and people with mental health conditions face many and varied barriers to engaging in their communities, connecting with neighbours, and accessing opportunities locally. This category, sponsored by Barnwood Trust , is about exploring the ways in which our villages overcome these barriers.
Winner - Painswick
Painswick (in Stroud District) won the £2,000 first prize in the Inclusive Community category of Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2025.
The judges were impressed on their visit both with the extent to which accessibility had been considered across many of the village’s outdoor spaces and community venues and by the desire of the community to do more. Amongst other elements, inclusive play equipment, the replacement of stiles with gates, improvements made following an accessibility audit of one of the village’s most used venues, and the strong sense of community evidenced by a high level of volunteering combine to create a welcoming, supportive and non-judgemental environment which helps overcome physical barriers, combat loneliness and social isolation, and support mental wellbeing. The Parish Council actively seeks feedback from people with accessibility needs and can demonstrate that changes are made in response. The judges felt that many of the villagers understood the importance of creating more inclusive as well as intergenerational activities, and a willingness to build on work already done to make the village as accessible and inclusive a community as possible.
Runner Up - Woolaston
Woolaston (Forest of Dean District) won the £1,000 runner-up prize in the Inclusive Community category of Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2025.
Efforts to overcome barriers to access are in evidence throughout this village, from ensuring that pathways, pavements, and alleyways are well maintained and free from weeds and obstacles and the placement of areas of seating around the village, to making sure the village hall and sports field, as the focal points of village activity, are fully accessible. Door to door transport is available to get residents to appointments, and car sharing is arranged for reaching memory clubs in nearby areas. The village Facebook group is a hub for coordinating requests for and offers of help, and demonstrates the strength of a community looking out for its residents. This commitment was demonstrated to the judges when they were approached by a resident who wanted to share the huge amount of support she and her husband had received from the community as they recovered from a serious road accident, ranging from transport to hospital to help with shopping.
Highly Commended - Kingswood
Kingswood (Stroud District) was awarded "Highly Commended" in the Inclusive Community category of Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2025.
Although this village provided limited answers to the questions in this category, following their visit the judges felt that it merited special commendation in this category for the new Changing Places and Accessible toilets, the wheelchair accessible picnic tables at the playing fields, and the well-maintained cut-grass pathways at the nature reserve wide enough for wheelchair users.
