Coastal Champion: This award is made to an individual in recognition of their significant contribution to the long-term management of the North West coast. Nominations are open to anyone involved in coastal activity, either as part of their work or as a volunteer.
This year we had two award winners for this category, one early careers coastal champion and one lifetime achievement coastal champion.
The Winner of the 2025 NWACE Early Careers – Coastal Champion Award is Shovi Anjum – Project Officer at Solway Firth Partnership. She is currently running the CLEARCoasts project.
The Winner of the 2025 NWACE Lifetime Achievement – Coastal Champion Award is Susannah Bleakley – She has worked within Morecambe Bay for the past 25+ years and has held key roles within Morecambe Bay Partnership, Our Future Coast and North West Coastal Forum.
Coastal Best Practice: This award is made to an organisation or partnership of organisations in recognition of their significant contribution to the long-term management of the North West coast. Nominations are open to open to businesses, local authorities, government agencies and NGOs which have carried out work on the North West coast within the last 2 years.
The Winner of the 2025 NW ACE for Coastal Best Practice is Morecambe Bay Seascape Restoration Project (Seagrass Elements) – A partnership project between the below organisations working together to restore and expand important coastal, intertidal and marine habitats around Morecambe Bay, in support of key economic fishery species, water quality, key coastal tourism locations, climate mitigation, adaptation & carbon sequestration. The project has played a pivotal part in Seagrass restoration in the Walney Channel.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust (CWT) are the lead organisation and lead the Morecambe Bay Seascape Restoration Working Group which includes:
• Lancaster University
• Barrow Borough Council
• Wyre council
• RSPB
• North West Coastal Forum
• MMO
• Eden Project North
• The Bay
• Manchester Met university
• Blue Marine Foundation
• Natural England
• Environment Agency
• Holker Estates
• Our Future Coast
• Morecambe Bay Partnership
• Cumbria University
• Cumbria County Council
• Arnside and Silverdale AONB
The winners of the Awards were announced at the recent conference: ‘Coastal Habitat Restoration and Creation in North West England 2025: Exploring progress & potential’ which took place on 6th & 7th March 2025, Carlisle.
This year’s Awards have been funded through the Championing Coastal Coordination (3Cs) initiative, which is led by the Environment Agency with support from Natural England, the Marine Management Organisation and the Association of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities.
A pdf with more details about the three winners can be downloaded here:
NW-ACE-2025.pdf (80 downloads )