Celebrating Gloucestershire’s Rural Communities at the Village of the Year Awards 2026

On Thursday 16th July 2026, Freeman Homes, part of MF Freeman Group was proud to support the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (GRCC) Gloucestershire Village of the Year Awards, held in the beautiful surroundings of Highnam Court. The event brought together inspiring communities from across the county to celebrate the volunteers, organisations and residents who are helping to create thriving, sustainable places to live and work.

As sponsors of the Climate & Environment (Resilience) category, Freeman Homes was delighted to recognise those villages leading the way in environmental stewardship and community-led sustainability initiatives. Congratulations to Painswick, which took the category title, and Upton St Leonards, which was named runner-up. Highly commended awards were also presented to Berkeley and Bisley.

The evening also celebrated excellence across a range of community-focused categories:

Community-Led Health and Wellbeing (including Mental Health) – Winner: Stinchcombe; Runner-Up: Berry Hill.
Climate & Environment (Resilience) – Winner: Painswick; Runner-Up: Upton St Leonards; Highly Commended: Berkeley and Bisley.
Volunteering & Skills in the Community – Winner: Gretton; Runner-Up: Painswick.
Digital – Winner: Upton St Leonards; Runner-Up: Gretton; Highly Commended: Westbury-on-Severn.
High Sheriff Special Award for a Young Person Overcoming Adversity – Joint winners: Grace Smart and Nett Lord.

This year's competition attracted entries from communities across Gloucestershire, with Gretton ultimately being crowned GRCC Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2026 and Upton St Leonards receiving the overall runner-up award. The standard of entries showcased the remarkable dedication, innovation and community spirit that exists throughout our rural communities.

As one of the judges, Hayley Coombs, Sales & Operations Director at Freeman Homes, was inspired by the quality of submissions and the positive impact being made across the county.

"It was a privilege to be involved in judging this year's Gloucestershire Village of the Year Awards. The standard of entries was exceptionally high and demonstrated the incredible commitment that local people have to improving their communities. We were particularly impressed by the focus on sustainability and the innovative ways villages are working together to build resilience, protect their local environment, and create lasting positive change. These initiatives are making a real difference to rural communities across Gloucestershire and reflect values that are strongly aligned with our own commitment to sustainable development at Freeman Homes.”

As a Gloucestershire-based, family owned and led housebuilder, we are dedicated to building communities where people can thrive whilst helping to reduce environmental impact while providing healthier, more sustainable places for people to live. This commitment can be seen in our EPC A-rated Zero Carbon Living homes, which we are currently building in Alderton, Twyning and Newnham on Severn. These highly energy-efficient homes are designed to minimise carbon emissions, reduce running costs for homeowners and contribute to more sustainable communities for future generations. It’s important to us that we engage and work with the communities in which we build to enable us to add value to the communities and leave a positive impact.”

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the winners, runners-up and shortlisted communities who took part in this year's awards.