Congratulations to all our award winners, and everyone shortlisted in The Great Outdoors Awards, which showcase the best of the outdoor world in 2018
By Emily Rodway, Editor of The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors Awards are a fascinating and rewarding part of what we do here on the magazine. Over the years, they have grown in scale and public interest, and it has been wonderful to have the opportunity to congratulate the huge, varied number of people and organisations who have received awards since 2012.
This year, we had a total of 20 categories (full shortlists here), ranging from awards for individuals (Personality of the year, Campaign or Campaigner of the year) to small businesses (Pub, Campsite, Independent Retailer of the year) and much bigger ones (Chain Retailer, Outdoor Clothing and Equipment Brand of the year).
Nearly 10,000 people took the opportunity to vote in our reader awards. Thank you all for participating and for your testimonials in support of those you voted for. We were particularly blown away by the passionate, articulate comments that so many of you made in support of your votes for the winner of our Campaigner of the Year category, broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham, who is interviewed in the new issue of the magazine.
While the public were voting in our reader categories, my fellow judges and I had a lot of fun debating the winners in our Gear of the Year awards. This year, we also created some special awards to celebrate 40 years of The Great Outdoors magazine by naming some of our favourite product innovations of the past four decades. We’d love to know what you think of our choices – drop us a line and share your favourites too.
To find out who won, and to read all our coverage of The Great Outdoors Awards 2018, pick up a copy of our January issue, which is in shops today. You can also order a copy online (free postage).
