FarFrom wins at UK StartUp Awards 2026 East of England
On Wednesday 3rd June, FarFrom was named the East of England winner at the UK StartUp Awards 2026. We're now through to the national finals, which take place at Ideas Fest in September.
We started FarFrom because we believed there was a better way to travel in the UK. One where curious, capable people could stay somewhere genuinely interesting in exchange for a few hours of practical help, and where property owners with incredible places could find trustworthy, skilled visitors without paying a fortune to list on platforms built for a different kind of stay. Getting this recognition at a national level means a lot, but what means more is the reason we got here.
What the judges said
The regional judging panel singled out FarFrom for reimagining work-for-accommodation (WFA) as a quality-led tourism marketplace. Their feedback highlighted the care we've put into building both sides of the platform, our early host traction, and our ambition to make travel more immersive and affordable for more people.
That last point is the one that drives everything we do. Affordable shouldn't mean a compromise on quality, and immersive shouldn't mean inaccessible. FarFrom is built to offer both.
What winning means to us
Sarah, founder of FarFrom said: "Winning this award is a reflection of the hosts who've trusted us from the very beginning. They took a chance on a brand new platform, opened up their properties, and helped us prove that this model works. Without them, there's nothing to judge. This is their win as much as ours."
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, who founded the UK StartUp Awards, reflected on what the 2026 cohort of winners had in common. He said the thing that impressed judges across the board was "the evidence behind their ambition, from customers and partnerships to investment, innovation, impact and growth." He noted that winners weren't just building clever ideas, but businesses with genuine commercial credibility and the potential to scale.
That framing reflects what we've always tried to do. FarFrom isn't built on a theory about how travel should work. It's built around real hosts with real properties, and real volunteers who want something more than a hotel room and a tourist trail.
On to the national finals
We're now heading to the national finals at Ideas Fest in September. We'll be competing against winners from every other region in the UK, and we're under no illusion that it gets harder from here. But we think the case for FarFrom speaks for itself: a growing community of hosts, a platform built with care, and a model that creates genuine value for everyone involved.
If you want to see what's already live on FarFrom, or you've been thinking about whether hosting or volunteering might be right for you, now's a good time to take a look.
Find out more at farfromtravel.com
