Led by the National Trust, Changing Chalk is a landscape-scale partnership connecting nature, people and heritage on and around the South Downs.
From Shoreham to Eastbourne, the ambition is to create a more sustainable future for the Downs’ rare and fragile chalk grassland, its unique cultural heritage and its richly-diverse urban fringe.
By connecting nature, people and heritage across this 458 sqkm area of the eastern South Downs, we can help to restore and protect this internationally-significant landscape.
Four years, ten partners, and 18 projects will see us create multiple connections across the urban fringes and rural areas of the Downs, restoring and reconnecting the fragmented areas of chalk grassland.
Supported by a £2.23m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and funding from People's Postcode Lottery and The Linbury Trust, Changing Chalk will:
The themes around connecting nature, people and heritage have never felt more important or relevant.
The Changing Chalk project area - much of which falls within the South Downs National Park - is home to rare and protected wildlife and plantlife, and important archaeological sites. But this area is also special because of the rare chalk grassland which has its origins 6,000 years ago when people first began clearing forests to settle and farm.
The chalk grassland supports such a rich and diverse range of plants and insects that it’s sometimes referred to as ‘Europe’s tropical rainforest’. Around 40 species of flowering plant can be found in just one square metre of chalk grassland, with many of these species growing nowhere else, including rare orchids and wildflowers. It is also home to rare insects including the Wart-biter Bush-cricket.
However, over the past 80 years unimproved chalk grassland has suffered badly from loss and fragmentation. Since the national call to "plough up" in the 1940s, there has been a decline in traditional ways of looking after the landscape. It now makes up just 4% of the land in the South Downs National Park and many of the sites that remain are small and isolated, with the chalk grassland wildlife threatened by encroaching scrub as well as climate change.
Neighbouring the Downs is one of the most densely-populated coastal regions of northern Europe. Around 750,00 people live here, in multi-cultural towns like bustling Brighton and Hove, charming Lewes, and historic Eastbourne.
But the Changing Chalk project area has some of the most economically-deprived wards in the UK, with high unemployment, and poor physical and mental health. The stresses of today’s world have created new challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of access to nature and open space for people’s well-being.
The Sussex Downs and towns have a rich shared heritage but both are facing unprecedented threats.
Working at landscape scale, with a wide range of partners and communities, is our best chance to better understand this ever-changing landscape and find solutions to conserve heritage for future generations.
Changing Chalk is delivering 18 inter-connected projects and activities to address these challenges which, together, unite nature, people and heritage and create a more sustainable future for the Downs and their towns. In addition, a series of apprenticeships and training opportunities are being created, giving young people across Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne and Lewes the chance to learn the skills needed by rangers and archaeologists. The projects can be summarised under three themes:
The application window for grants is currently closed.
An additional funding round may be scheduled for 2025, however this is dependent on the success of this current round. Please see our social media channels and check this website for updates.
Please follow this link for more information
Thanks to the National Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’ve already funded grants totalling £90,000. You can read more about these successful projects here.
It's easy to get involved with all the events and activities run by the Changing Chalk partners.
There's a wide range of volunteering opportunities across the partnership's 18 projects covering habitat and conservation, monument mentoring, community participation, office volunteering and more.
January 2024
One of the Changing Chalk project's aims is to provide new work and training opportunities for young people. As well as our countryside traineeship, we've created four new apprentice roles so far - in Archaeology, Countryside and Ranger Skills, and Community and Participation. You can read about our two Ranger apprentices in this blog.
Changing Chalk is supported by a £2.23m Heritage Fund grant, made possible thanks to National Lottery players; by players of People's Postcode Lottery; and The Linbury Trust. Thank you.
Many thanks also, to our generous supporters who wish to remain anonymous.
Find out how you can get involved with the many Changing Chalk projects and help create a sustainable future for the eastern South Downs.
Brighton and Hove City Council is the local authority of the city of Brighton and Hove.
We’re a non-profit organisation helping people learn to cook, eat a healthy diet, grow their own food and waste less food.
Buglife is the only organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. We’re actively working to save our rarest little animals, everything from bees to beetles, worms to woodlice and jumping spiders to jellyfish
The council with responsibility for the Lewes district and borough of Eastbourne
Natural England is the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England. They help to protect and restore our natural world.
The Railway Land Wildlife Trust exists to inspire environmental sustainability by bringing nature to the heart of Lewes.
The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) is responsible for keeping the South Downs a special place. The SDNPA is also the planning authority for the National Park.
We champion wildlife and natural places everywhere in Sussex and inspire people to take action for nature.
The Living Coast is a UNESCO World Biosphere Region. It embraces a wonderfully biodiverse stretch of the chalky South Downs and Sussex coast between the River Adur at Shoreham-by-Sea and the River Ouse at Newhaven.
Discover the world of science behind our botanical collections, with over 50,000 living plants to be found across our UNESCO World Heritage site.
The public body that looks after England's historic environment.
Writing Our Legacy CIC is an arts and heritage organisation that enables Black, Asian and ethnically diverse/BPOC* people to tell their story through writing and the creative arts.
Download your Changing Chalk leaflet 'Discover the Downs on your Doorstep' with its specially-commissioned illustrative map with artwork by Elaine Gill and start to explore this wonderful area.
The National Trust, South Downs National Park Authority, Historic England and a variety of volunteers and archaeological societies in the South of England have been working to widen the engagement with and understanding of nationally important heritage sites. Monument Mentors is a way to learn more about the scheduled monuments of the South Downs and help to protect them for future generations.
Find out how you can get involved with the many Changing Chalk projects and help create a sustainable future for the eastern South Downs.
Discover the Downs from Above and see how human activity has shaped the history and heritage of the Downs with a new report and interactive archaeology tool.
