Why I nominated the Strawberry Line Society for The King’s Award for Voluntary Service

In November 2025 I nominated the Strawberry Line Society for The King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. Today they were named as recipients. Here is why I nominated them.

Because it is a story of community. Since the early 1980s, volunteers have turned a closed railway into a green corridor running across Somerset. They clear the paths, look after the verges, and work with landowners, councils, schools and businesses to keep the route open to everyone, whether they walk, cycle, use a wheelchair or ride. Generations of local people have given their time so that others can benefit.

Because of what it gives back. Children have a safe route to school, and people have an option other than the car. Local businesses get visitors and wildlife gets a home. The path is also a place to walk, think, breathe and meet a neighbour, and for many people it has been a lifeline for their mental health.

Because we can build on it. The Strawberry Line is already a place where people look after their wellbeing, and this award recognises the mental health benefits of the path. I’d love us to build on that. In September we held a Walk for Life in Shepton Mallet for World Suicide Prevention Day, and next year I hope to help bring two more to Somerset.

Thank you to every volunteer, past and present, and to the two local residents who wrote letters of support. Nominating this group was a real privilege.

Claire Sully


Related articles & video:

10 Ways to Improve Health & Well-Being on The Strawberry Line by Red Door Films

A People’s Path.

Why I Walk for a Life