Haywards Heath - The Green Tree Gallery is a winner

Jill Housby and Sam Phillips run the gallery.

Muddy Stilettos is a lifestyle website offering an "urban guide to the countryside.”

Its annual awards champion "quality, originality and creativity" and celebrate the most exciting independent businesses in Sussex.

Jill Housby said: “Recognition for the gallery, now in its 15th year, is testament to the quality of the work of the hundreds of talented local artists and craftspeople who have exhibited there over the years and to the loyal support of its customers. In the face of other local gallery and small business closures during the economic uncertainties of the last decade and a half, the gallery is proud still to be standing!”

Jill added: “We are keen supporters of the Just A Card Campaign (justacard.org) which emphasises the importance of even the smallest purchases for tiny concerns like the gallery. We’re really grateful for each and every one of them! And we’re really appreciative of the ongoing local support for us and the continuing support of all our lovely artists – we couldn’t do it without any of them!”

The Gallery, based just outside the entrance to Borde Hill Garden, is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11.30am-5pm. Free entry and plenty of free parking just outside. www.greentreegallery.co.uk.

Nearby the Weald & Downland Living Museum near Chichester has been named Sussex Family Attraction of the Year in the 2022 Muddy Stiletto awards. As winners the museum will be automatically put through to the inaugural National Muddy Stilettos Awards 2022 which will be judged throughout the summer. Home to over 50 historic buildings from across the Weald and Downland area of Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, the museum’s collection represents almost a 1,000 years of rural life in south-east England including a medieval farmstead, market hall, school, smithy and even a church, presented just as they would have been in the past with roaring fires, straw beds and historic gardens.