Help for Heroes Support

Since March 2010 we have made Help for Heroes our lead charity. We have held two dinners here at Higher Wiscombe, along with other activities and have now raised over £3000 for the charity. Alistair is also the Chair of Premier Cottages and with colleagues has launched a "Cottages for Heroes" initiative where professional self caterers give a weeks free accommadation to the familes of servicemen killed or injured. This administered by Band of Sisters, a part of Help for Heroes and more details are on the www.premiercottages.co.uk website.

Enjoy England Gold Award:

This award is giving to the very best accomadation in England with only the top 20% of Five Star properties acheiving this award. All three of our cottages are graded Five Star Gold each year since this programme began.

New Pool Area:

The area surrounding the pool has been much improved. To protect from wind there is now an oak wall on two sides and a glass wall on the other, so that the view down the valley can still be seen from within the pool. The paved and cobbled areas have also been enlarged.

Higher Level Stewardship with Defra:

The majority of our 52 acres are now under Higher Level Stewardship. We have now commenced a series of programmes, to last over the next ten years to clear scrub, protect the rae species present and to maintain the hugely rich diversity that we have here. See the Wildlife tab under information for more details.

FSB Award:

The Federation of Small Businesses run a business awards comptetion each year. Higher Wiscombe was the runner up in the the Environmental responsibility section in 2008.

Higher Wiscombe and Hix Oyster & Fish House:

www.hixoysterandfishhouse.co.uk

This London restaurantuer has opened a fish restauarnt in the graden at Lyme Regis, over looking Lyme Bay. Very good quality and truly amzing setting. Booking advised.

Debi Sustainable Tourism and Overall Winner Award:

For the second year running Higher Wiscombe is a finalist in the DEBI (Devon Environmental Business Initiative) Awards. This year we won both Sustainable Tourism and were the Overall winner on the night.

The final was at the Met office in Exeter on Thursday, 22nd November. We also presented a cheque to the Devon Wildlife Trust on the same evening from our collecting boxes in the cottages for £200.

Higher Wiscombe and River Cottage:

The River Cottage Canteen, shop and HQ have now opened on our doorstep in Axminster. Highly recommended but booking essential, see local restaurants section on website for full details.

CLA Rural Buildings Award Scheme:

Higher Wiscombe was a regional finalist in the CLA's Centenary Buildings Award Scheme.

Tourism Excellence Awards:

We have won the Silver Medal in the South West Tourism Excellence Awards. This time in the sustainability section. The sustainability section received more entries than any other this year highlighting the growing importance of sustainability in tourism generally

Word Responsible Tourism Day:

We are supporting World Responsible Tourism Day and will be providing further options this year to make holidays at Higher Wiscombe more sustainable. We have just introduced providing full picnic equipment for guests, including wheel barrows to get it to the picnic area.

Awards for Excellence:

Higher Wiscombe has won the Self Catering Holiday of the Year Award for 2007/8 in the Enjoy England Excellence Awards in April 2007, the highest accolade for Self Catering in British Tourism, (known as the Tourism Oscars) and were put forward as the finalists after winning the South West Tourism Excellence Award for Self Catering in 2006/7, in our first year of trading.

Cyclists and Walkers Welcome:

Each year Higher Wiscombe is inspected by the NQAS scheme, the National Quality Assurance Scheme. We were awarded 5 stars for each property and this year we have also been accredited as a Walkers and Cyclists approved accommodation.

Corporate Sponsor - Devon Wildlife Trust

Higher Wiscombe is now a Corporate Sponsor of the Devon Wildlife Trust. We have collecting boxes in all our cottages and recycle all our printer carteidges though the Trust.

THE GREEN TOURISM BUSINESS SCHEME
(GTBS) Award:

Higher Wiscombe Gold grading in the GTBS scheme has been reconfirmed after our bi-annual inspection this spring. This reflects our commitment to the environment and to ensuring the sustainability of our business.

Runner Up DEBI Award:

Higher Wiscombe was a runner up in the DEBI (Devon Environmental Business Initiative) 2006 Awards for Sustainable Tourism.

Higher Wiscombe gains British Quality Foundation accreditation

Higher Wiscombe is the first dedicated self caterer in the UK to successfully complete this quality business assessment. All aspects of the business were looked into in great detail with the course, the support training, testing and final assessement taking nearly a year.