Voting deadline is extended for CPRE Sussex countryside hero award

Countryside charity CPRE Sussex has extended the voting deadline for its Empowering Communities Award by a week to give more people the opportunity to vote for their favourite and to be sure of a clear winner.
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Ben Cross, owner of Crosslands Flower Nursery in Walberton, is one of three people in the running for the award which celebrates people who have made a significant contribution to the enrichment of the Sussex countryside.

During lockdown Ben teamed up with a supermarket to donate thousands of unsold flowers to frontline NHS workers, and also developed a letterbox delivery service with Beachtown Blooms in Littlehampton.

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Kia Trainor, CPRE Sussex director, said: “The competition is incredibly strong. We feel that due to the exceptional work of all three nominees and the exceptional circumstances surrounding this year’s competition, it is only fair to extend the deadline.

Ben CrossBen Cross
Ben Cross

“This award is about celebrating the individuals who have dedicated their lives to the enrichment and enhancement of the Sussex countryside.”

More than 90 per cent of the UK’s cut flowers are shipped in from overseas, at considerable cost to the environment, and Crosslands is one of the last nurseries in Sussex to buck this trend – supplying florists and wholesalers nationwide with millions of its British alstroemeria stems, also known as the Peruvian lily, every year.

Ben is part of in an initiative which pairs farmers with junior schools, has set up apprenticeship schemes for horticultural students, and has created videos for schools to use in the lockdown learning initiative.

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The greenhouses at Crosslands are heated by a sustainable biomass boiler, while all the flowers are grown using biological controls, and sold in recyclable and re-usable packaging.

The other nominees are Phil Belden, from South Downs Rangers Service and the Brighton Urban Wildlife Group, and Isabella Tree, Knepp Castle’s environmental pioneer. Visit www.cpresussex.org.uk/news/empowering-communities-award to vote before voting closes on September 7.

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