Organisations in Arundel, West Sussex, formed “Greening Arundel” in early 2023, a network driven by a shared concern about the impact of climate change on their community. The alliance aims to make Arundel “cleaner and greener” by fostering collaboration, community engagement and sustainable practices.
Transforming green spaces across the town
Greening Arundel operate on three pillars: protecting and nurturing the environment, mobilising both residents and the business community, while striving for sustainability. In its first year, the Green Team, a band of 30 dedicated volunteers, has secured funding from multiple sources and devoted over 500 hours to transformative projects across the town.
The group’s achievements include the transformation of the 120-metre pathway from the train station, with A native plant is one that originated or arrived naturally in a particular place without human involvement. In the British Isles, native plants are those that were here during the last ice age or have arrived unaided since.
The long-term vision of Greening Arundel focuses on increasing biodiversity, making Arundel a haven for wildlife and reducing environmental harm. They recently launched the “Bring Back Our Birds” campaign, which aims to restore local populations of swifts, swallows and house martins by sponsoring nest boxes and cups. Next, they are hoping to commission a pair of local artists to provide an art installation depicting a screaming party of swifts, to be installed in a prominent position leading into the town.
In January, they held a “Haven for Hedgehogs” event with talks from the Bognor Regis Hedgehog Tracking Project and Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital who are working to protect and nurture hedgehogs. Arundel Agenda 21 has set up a local Hedgehog Club as a result of the event. Attendees learned how to create hedgehog-friendly environments and volunteered to help monitor and record sightings, in an effort to help Arundel become a haven for wildlife. The group also hosted a rewilding supper event at the local Swan Hotel, organised by Friends of Priory Pocket Park. The supper event featured local produce donated by the Norfolk Estate and allotment holders, as well as wine from a local vineyard. Tom Forward, a ranger from the Knepp Estate, also gave a talk.
Support from charities and young people
Greening Arundel actively encourage community involvement, collaborating with schools, youth groups and local businesses. In the summer, Year 10 students from two local schools volunteered for the Green Team. Their mission – to experience from the inside Arundel’s remarkable community spirit in action. The day involved a huge range of hands-on experience for the students, including assembling 100 reusable, collapsible water bottles ready for sale as well as collecting used coffee grounds from Juniper café among others and depositing them in local allotments to enrich the soil. They also planted flowers at the foot of the town’s Covid-19 memorial tree and did some litter picking and watering at the train station.
Partnerships with charities continue to expand, fostering a sense of shared responsibility for Arundel’s environmental wellbeing. Thanks to their partnership with the Aldingbourne Trust for example, adults with learning disabilities or autism have been watering beds at the train station and volunteering on the allotment. Greening Arundel are keen to keep mobilising as many local groups as possible.
Funding support
In April 2023, we launched and RHS grant to help community gardening or growing groups registered with Britain in Bloom, It’s Your Neighbourhood and RHS Affiliated Societies to create new, or develop existing, gardening and growing networks. 29 applicants received between £1,000 and £5,000, including Greening Arundel through the Arundel Gardens Association. The group found the grant to be instrumental in meeting their sustainability objective since it enabled them to obtain an allotment and greenhouse, where they can propagate and grow their own plants and trees.
Additional grants from Arundel Town Council, the South Downs Trust and the Sussex Ornithological Society have further solidified their commitment to green initiatives, including the installation of a house martin tower in the Community Orchard and swift boxes on properties across the town. Local businesses, such as Stubbs Woodyard and Arundel Arboretum, have donated products and time.
Future projects
Future projects for Greening Arundel include expanding the pollinator corridor by planting 12 more upcycled troughs, which local businesses and residents will look after, as well as continuing to transform the train station area and working with Arun District Council to redesign the town’s Jubilee Gardens and Memorial beds to make them more pollinator-friendly and sustainable.
Pak Ling Wan, RHS Community Programme Manager, says:
“We are delighted to see the benefits of our RHS Community Grants on volunteering across the UK. People coming together to ‘help out’ or more specifically ‘informal volunteering’ rose to prominence during the pandemic, when the face of volunteering changed to suit different people and contexts. It is heartening to see how people have stepped up to support their communities in the form of local networks as seen in Arundel with the aim to tackle climate change. By focussing on what motivates people to help out in their community for a cause, more volunteers can participate and be rewarded by seeing the positive impact their work has on the community and local environment.”
As Greening Arundel enter their second year, the community-led initiative stands as a testament to the power of collaboration and grassroots efforts in creating a sustainable and welcoming town. With ongoing projects, community engagement and grant support, Arundel is on the path to becoming a model for environmental stewardship, demonstrating that every small effort contributes to a greener and more attractive place to live, work and visit.
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