SoGlos has launched a brand-new awards celebration for the county, the Gloucestershire Lifestyle & Community Awards, as well as a new dedicated Community section, this May 2025.
Marking one of the biggest developments in the media brand’s history, on the cusp of its 18-year anniversary, SoGlos's remit has now expanded to encompass a trio of core focuses: business, lifestyle and community in Gloucestershire.
On a mission to celebrate Gloucestershire as an incredible place to live, work and visit, the new community focus has been described as a ‘natural progression’ – reflecting the importance of community news and engagement to SoGlos's 1.6 million monthly audience and partners across Gloucestershire – as well as the evolution of SoGlos as a truly local media brand.
‘We are a staunchly community-minded county and the goal of SoGlos’s new Community section and awards is to reflect the values and interests of our audience and partners in Gloucestershire,’ Michelle Fyrne, SoPublishing’s CEO, said.
'Enhancing local engagement, supporting local initiatives and providing a central hub for readers all helps SoGlos to be part of building a more informed, connected and collaborative local culture,’ she added.
New Gloucestershire Lifestyle & Community Awards
SoGlos's much-loved annual Gloucestershire Lifestyle Awards – which have just been held at the iconic Pittville Pump Room in Cheltenham – are growing and evolving for 2026.
The new Gloucestershire Lifestyle & Community Awards will enhance and build on the Gloucestershire Lifestyle Awards’ eight years of success, to also celebrate community, heritage, charity, sustainability and volunteering in the county.
As part of this wider celebration of the county, there will be a number of exciting new categories, in addition to SoGlos's stable of most popular lifestyle-focused awards.
These new community-focused categories will give more organisations and individuals in the county the chance to shine and gain the recognition they deserve, and are set to include categories such as:
- Volunteer Award
- Community Award
- Fundraiser Award
- Animal Award
- Heritage Award
- Sustainability Award
'We recognised there was a unique opportunity for SoGlos to support and celebrate the county's community sector with a Gloucestershire-wide awards – particularly focusing on the amazing individuals and groups which do so much to support the lives of others locally, often without any recognition. We saw so many overlaps with what we were achieving with the lifestyle awards, that this was a natural evolution.
'We have been so inspired by the work we have seen being done in communities across the county that launching the Gloucestershire Lifestyle & Community Awards just felt right,' James Fyrne, SoPublishing managing director, said. 'The new awards are set to become an even more important highlight on the county's calendar and we can't wait to showcase them with the county.'
New SoGlos Community section
Amplifying community-focused content more than ever before, SoGlos will also now be informing, connecting and championing communities in Gloucestershire with a new dedicated Community section on the website – which launched on Tuesday 27 May 2025.
Providing a dedicated platform for sharing the stories that have proven time and time again to matter most to our audience, the newly developed Community section will feature curated content of significant Gloucestershire-wide importance, written by SoGlos journalists.
SoGlos’s new Community section is set to include content such as:
Community news
Ground-breaking work by charities; milestone volunteering efforts; important local heritage or regeneration projects; communities coming together to take action; as well as environmental and sustainability news, for example.
Local government and public services news
Significant council meetings and decisions; planning and development proposals; public consultations; roadworks and transport changes; education and youth news; and civic engagement, for example.
Corporate social responsibility news
Linking closely with SoGlos's thriving Business section, exploring how Gloucestershire businesses are supporting charity and community initiatives in the county, for example.
Community interviews
With community leaders; business leaders; volunteers achieving notable community work, for example.
Community events
Covering an array of engaging community events in Gloucestershire, from fundraising runs to festivals, for example.
To find our more visit soglos.com/community. Look out for the updated awards page in June 2025.
For information on partnering with SoGlos through the new Community section or awards, email partnerships@sopublishing.com or call 01242 210330.
