A SHRIVENHAM cemetery owner is up for a national award.

Liz Rothschild, who runs the Westmill Woodland Burial Ground, near Shrivenham, has been nominated for the category Greatest Contribution to the Understanding of Death.

The burial ground has also been shortlisted for the Cemetery of the Year gong at the Good Funeral Awards.

Cemetery owner Liz opened the "natural" burial ground in 2013 with partner Adam Twine. The site won Cemetery of the Year in the 2015 awards.

Liz, who has spent 30 years as a writer and theatre director, has run "death cafés" and set up Oxford's Kicking the Bucket Festival - with theatre shows, music events and exhibitions about death.

Her interest in death began after a close friend passed away. Liz said: "I wanted to help other people understand how to deal with death," Liz said.

This year she is taking one-woman show around the United States. The show, Outside the Box, brings together stories about life and death. It premiered at Swindon Literature Festival earlier this year.

She said of being put forward for the award: "It's lovely to be nominated."

Liz will discover whether she's won the award at a glitzy awards ceremony in the Porchester Hotel, London, on Thursday.

For more about Westmill Woodland Burial Ground, visit: www.woodlandburialwestmill.co.uk.