RAINHILL Village Hall, Merseyside, has been short listed for the Scotland, Northern Ireland and North West Region of the Biffaward Awards 2005 - the prestigious national environmental awards ceremony, which will be held this year on 23 September close to the Humber Bridge at Barton on Humber's new Waters' Edge Centre.

The village hall has fought off stiff competition to go forward to the final round of the Awards. It will now compete with four other projects to become the regional winner, with the possibility of becoming the overall winner for 2005, receiving a total of £7,000 towards its work. The Rt Hon. Elliot Morley MP, Minister of State (Climate Change and Environment) will present the overall winner's prize.

Hosted by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, Biffaward Awards acknowledges the achievements of projects supported by the fund and highlights the diversity of environmental work undertaken, thanks to funding through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.

One of the meeting rooms in the village hall had been badly affected by defects in its sub-floor, causing the floor to become uneven and presenting a health and safety hazard particularly to the very young and the elderly. Following reports from regular users expert investigators assessed the site and found that the whole area had begun to disintegrate and therefore recommended that it needed to be completely dug out and replaced. The Biffaward grant has funded this essential work and has also provided a new vinyl floor and fireproof curtain.

Martin Bettington, Chairman of Biffaward, said:- "The Awards are a great way to celebrate the importance of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme. The shortlisted organisations have all worked extremely hard to make a difference to their local environment or community and this is a great way of giving recognition to their efforts. This is the seventh year of the awards and the competition just gets tougher and tougher - the awards will be very interesting this year. "

A Lancashire farmer, who has dramatically increased the number of lapwings on his farm, will today (Monday 4 July) be presented with the RSPB’s Lapwing Champion award for his achievements for conservation.

Simon Stott, of Laund Farm, Chipping, won the title against particularly stiff competition as farmers set a new standard in farming for wildlife. Mr. Stott, who runs an upland family farm with suckler cows and sheep, has created the ideal breeding habitat for lapwings by managing fields that were infested with rushes and creating several scrapes to provide important insect-rich feeding areas for adults and chicks in the spring. He has also put some of his higher altitude land most appropriate for breeding bids such as lapwings, curlews, redshanks and snipe into the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

The judges were particularly impressed with his efforts to explain rush management to so many other farmers during demonstration events held on his farm.

In 2003, Mr Stott had 4 pairs of lapwings on his land – now, thanks to the extensive work he has carried out, that figure has dramatically risen so that this year there could be as many as 20 pairs. Mr. Stott will receive £1000 cash prize to reward his efforts as well as a silver plaque and a prize kindly donated by Jordans Cereals, who sponsor the competition.

To celebrate his achievement, Mr Stott will receive his award from Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB’s Director of Conservation, at an official reception at the RSPB’s show stand at this year’s Royal Show.

Mr Stott has been working with the Bowland Wader Project – a partnership project involving the RSPB and Lancashire Rural Futures – and Tom Bridge, Bowland Wader Officer, paid tribute to his work for lapwings. “Simon has really taken this project to heart and has done everything possible to help the lapwings on his land to thrive,” he said. “Some of the work he has carried out has been with the help of agri-environment grants – but a lot he has done just out of love for these birds.”