Purdey Awards
PURDEY AWARDS FOR GAME AND CONSERVATION 2024
We are delighted to announce that the Purdey Awards for Game and Conservation 2024 are now open for entries this year, with applications closing Sunday 30th June 2024.
Since 1999, the Purdey Awards have been held annually to promote a wider appreciation of the outstanding conservation work carried out by Estates and Shoots throughout the UK – to give well-deserved recognition and reward to the very best.
The entrants for the Awards vary enormously: from very small areas of land, to large estates; each with quite different approaches in terms of the landscape management and methods of ensuring sustainable habitats. Nevertheless, the core criteria remains the same across all, that shooting is the beneficiary behind the management and conservation work; what has been done is high quality, impactful and sustainable; and that it produces a quantifiable outcome.
“We are proud to champion the extraordinary conservation work that goes on to support shoots across the UK. The Purdey Awards celebrate the individuals and groups who embody the values and responsibilities of environmental stewardship, community sustainability, as well as a fundamental respect for the quarry species, and care for the environment.” – Dan Jago, Purdey Chairman and CEO.
THE JUDGING PROCESS
The Purdey Awards are judged by a 15-strong panel of experts, chaired by the Duke of Wellington. Candidates are shortlisted in June, following careful assessment by Dr Mike Swan of the GWCT Advisory Service, who shares his opinion from a research and scientific perspective, before several judges arrange to visit each estate from August to September.
In October, the panel reconvene for ‘judgement day’, presenting a report for each shortlisted entry, including details about landscape management, the species and birds observed, and how the various agricultural, local community and conservation schemes work. There’s a healthy debate to determine the winners, who remain a closely guarded secret until the Awards ceremony, which will be held in early 2024.
Over the years we have had over 280 entrants and over 100 winners, sharing more than £160,000 in prize money to continue their conservation work.
“The Purdey Awards has evolved and refined, but its purpose remains the same – to highlight all the good that conservation and sustainability management does in producing the best of the UK’s habitats and landscapes… The Purdey Awards is a big accolade, it’s a feather in the cap and well respected in the shooting world as it demonstrates hard work, passion, vision – and, crucially, something that has delivered.” – Jonathan Kennedy, Purdey Awards judge for over 20 years.
HOW TO APPLY
The first step is to download and complete the entry form, linked below.
You will then receive a questionnaire, devised by Dr. Nick Sotherton of the GWCT, all about your shoot’s practices, projects and results in support of conservation. Entrants are also required to sign a declaration that they, and all connected with their shoot in any capacity, are conversant and in compliance with the Code of Good Shooting Practice.
Please download your Entry Form here
Complete and return as a PDF to awards@purdey.com, or post ‘FAO Georgia Simpson’ to the below address by Sunday 30th June at the latest.
James Purdey & Sons, Fourth Floor, 20 North Audley Street, London, W1K 6LX
If you have any questions about the Awards, please contact awards@purdey.com or call us on +44 7514494356.