The CEO of a highly regarded local charity in north Bristol has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the King’s New Year’s honours list.
Christine Storry, of the Ardagh Community Trust (ACT), has been recognised for her services to Sustainable and Local Food Procurement as a procurement manager for Bath and North-East Somerset Council, where she worked until early 2025. The award was announced in the official public record, ‘The Gazette’, in December 2025.
Christine said: “I was so surprised and thrilled to receive this award. It’s amazing to think that the work we did to encourage and secure short, local supply chains has become part of a national framework, rolled out across the country, ensuring all those small and medium-sized food producers have a secure route to their local markets.”
Christine became CEO of ACT, a charity-run venue in the heart of Horfield Common, in May 2025, and has continued her food production and distribution-related work with her ongoing plans for the Ardagh’s food bank collation and community garden. The garden recently won a Royal Horticultural Society’s In Your Neighbourhood award, and is home to the first café in Bristol to compost 100% of its food waste on site.
“It’s so rewarding to be able to continue to put all I’ve learnt about the importance of good food in communities into action. Watch this space for more activities and events this year”, added Christine.
Alongside its social enterprises (the café and plant nursery) ACT hosts a wide range of events and activities, including craft fairs, food pop-ups, t’ai chi classes, concerts and creative sessions for children. The site also features an on-site community sauna. It does all this with a tiny core team and the help of a small army of volunteers. It receives no central funding, so relies on grant applications, fundraising campaigns and on-site income generating activities.