Meeting, talking with and sharing stories with new groups of people.  In particular, some of these stand out events were with Afghan refugees on the Wrekin, guiding members of the Parkinson’s Group into Snailbeach Lead Mine and walking with members of the Muslim community from Craven Arms, including a night walk.

Watching our Young Rangers gain in confidence and enabling some of them to take on a mentoring role and lead some of the Young Ranger sessions. 

FiPL ‘fairy dust’! – administering the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme of grants enables us to work closely with farmers and land managers in the Shropshire Hills. With this Defra funding we're able to support activity to help farm business and deliver public benefits for nature, climate, people and place. Since the launch in July 2021, we have funded over 200 projects and have supported over 330 farmers and land managers. 

Setting up and supporting the Upper Onny Farmers Group since 2018. Earlier this year, the group set themselves up as CIC (Community Interest Company) and Katy Mellor has taken over the reins as group facilitator from Cath.  listen to their podcasts here

Leading farm walks for the members of the public.  The walks gave farmers a chance to share their stories about their farms, the challenges of modern day farming in the Shropshire Hills and show some of the changes made to benefit the landscape, environment and farm business. These walks were extremely popular and thought provoking for all involved.

30by30 funding from Defra has enabled us to develop and fund projects with land owners and partners which don’t easily fall into other funding criteria.  This year we have supported 8 projects which are all helping to restore and protect the Shropshire Hills landscape.  read about Rescuing Rocks and Overgrown Relics (one of the projects) here

Supporting farmers to navigate the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) and feedback during the public consultation. The LNRS identifies key opportunities for supporting nature and an interactive map shows where nature is thriving and where targeted action could deliver the greatest benefits for wildlife, water, soil and climate resilience. read more here

Knight – our brilliant student placement has been with us for much for the year, working alongside Nigel and the team on a range of tourism/visitor related projects in the Shropshire Hills.  He very well deservedly won a 2025 TMI (Tourism Management Institute) Student Award.  read more here

Nature Calling, an arts project led by the National Landscapes Association, enabled us to deliver an inspirational community arts project in the Telford area. Whispers of the Hills brought together over 80 participants from very different backgrounds — adults with autism, refugees and people seeking asylum, adults with learning disabilities, and young people — the chance to explore the Shropshire Hills, connect with nature and express themselves through art. read more here

Working alongside the Shropshire Hills Landscape Trust to administer our small grant pot 'Conservation Fund' and supporting applicants to develop and deliver excellent community projects which are helping more people to connect with and care for the Shropshire Hills landscape. read more here

2025 was a record-breaking season for our Long Mynd & Stiperstones Shuttle Bus with over 1,600 passengers onboard the weekend service between May and September. read more here

Reaching the final sign off stage for the new 2025-2030 Plan for the Shropshire Hills, ‘Thriving in Balance with Nature’.  Following public consultation over the summer, the Plan was revised and sent to Nature England for formal observations.  It is now with the two local authorities for formal approval by Cabinets. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the process. read more about the new Plan here