Over £90,000 awarded to local groups so far through the Changing Chalk Community Grants Scheme
Thanks to the National Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, grants totalling £90,000 have been awarded in total since June 2023 to Sussex community organisations, with awards varying from £1,000 to £5,000.
Grants to benefit local communities and local environment
All of the successful applicants demonstrated how their projects would benefit local communities and support the Changing Chalk partnership’s overall vision of creating a sustainable future for the eastern South Downs. The projects have included history, heritage and nature programmes to connect young people with the Downs, and arts and nature initiatives to improve mental health, as well as projects that prioritise nature and habitat conservation.
Congratulations to all of the worthy recipients of the grant so far
The Grow Project
The Wellbeing in West Sussex project provides an eight-week programme for residents in the Shoreham and Adur area who are struggling with poor mental health. They offer activities to connect people with nature and the rare chalk grassland habitat of the South Downs, including guided nature walks, meditation and mindfulness in nature.
The Wildflower Conservation Society (Brighton and beyond)
The Wildflower Conservation Society are using their grant to purchase tools and equipment and recruit more volunteers. This will increase their capacity for growing native Sussex wildflowers to help restore and improve the chalk grassland of the South Downs.
The Network of International Women, Brighton and Hove
This group run therapeutic activity sessions in nature giving women from all backgrounds, including migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, space to draw on the benefits of being outdoors: building confidence, becoming more active, and improving physical and mental wellbeing.
Albion Life
Albion Life will be using their grant to buy tools and equipment so volunteers can create and maintain chalk grassland wildflower habitats for bees, butterflies and other insects in their local community.
Marlborough Productions
The Radical Rhizomes project developed practical support for members of the local QTIPOC (queer, trans and intersex people of colour) communities through a range of wellbeing and nature connection activities in the South Downs.
Wildwood Heritage
Through its Tracing the Lost Voices of Beachy Head project, Wildwood Heritage celebrates Beachy Head’s heritage as an international communications hub. The group survey, record and map the archaeology and history of the area to explore and share how these communications over the ages impacted the communities who lived on the Downs.
Round 2 Awardees
Project Art Works
Project Art Works will provide opportunities for neurodivergent people from the local area to connect with nature and take inspiration from the countryside, through a series of field trips, which will inform their creative practice.
Brighton & Hove Music for Connection (BHMC)
Brighton and Hove Music for Connection (BHMC) is a Community Interest Company specialising in providing participatory music opportunities for people of all abilities and backgrounds to connect and create through making music together, for wellbeing, social inclusion, and community building. Brighton and Hove Music for Connection (BHMC) will create a series of accessible and restorative Interactive Listening Walks that connect local urban communities to the nature and heritage of the Downs.
Little Green Pig
Little Green Pig will explore the history of Saddlescombe Farm on the South Downs with a group of children from under-resourced Brighton communities, focusing on bringing to life lesser told tales.
Act On It
Act On It uses drama to improve the lives of others and to provide a voice for the marginalised and under-represented. Our workshops for young people engage, build skills and knowledge and improve well-being and social inclusion.
Their project will connect local young people impacted by poor mental health with the South Downs and the culture inspired by the landscape. The young people will take part in online sessions that will bring the Downs to them, using drama to explore and interpret paintings, literature and music inspired by walks on the Downs.
Samphire Brighton & Hove CIC
Samphire Brighton & Hove CIC offers a variety of positive opportunities for local people. The CIC has established an initiative called Hearts and Flowers that operates from a one-acre site at Stanmer Organics between Brighton & Hove and Lewes in the South Downs National Park. Hearts and Flowers is an organic flower growing initiative that offers a welcoming space for local people to come and take part in activities that are designed to boost mental and physical health.
Brighton and Hove Museums – Royal Pavilion Museums Trust
Brighton and Hove Museums will bring together the historical knowledge of flora, fauna and biodiversity from across the South Downs National Park and preserved at the Booth Museum, with the creative cultural production of Archival Artist and Community and Organisational Poet, Pauline Rutter.
Round 3 Awardees
The Network of International Women, Brighton and Hove
Outdoor Living & Downland Walks Project
The project aims to help international women in Brighton and Hove, especially refugees and those from minority ethnic backgrounds, enjoy, learn about and look after the heritage of the South Downs, and encourage them to visit these areas with their families and friends.
Previous walks and ecotherapy sessions have had a transformative effect on the women’s wellbeing: many had never been out of Brighton to experience the wonderful countryside on our doorstep.
Love Our Ouse
The Winterbourne Festival is a series of events and poetry booklet to celebrate, learn and act for the globally rare Winterbourne chalk stream that runs through Lewes town organised by Love our Ouse.
The project combines various artforms and event formats for a variety of the local community to take part in drawing upon the stream’s rich history, heritage, ecology and natural features.
Lullabies For the Exhausted - Mini Retreats
The mini retreats are led by Akila Richards and Adriana Lord who are experienced multi-disciplinary artists, mentors and facilitators. They invite people of global majority communities who experience intersectional marginalisation to seek collective well-being and solidarity in their surrounding landscape. They aim to create a joyous space, build on connections to wider communities, embrace the natural local landscape and build a foundation to recalibrate and creatively rest. The mini retreats will culminate in a community celebration to share experiences with friends, family and extended community.
Art Reach: Changing Place, Changing Face
This grant will enable a group of individuals to explore their local environment and interact with their landscape. They will learn practical and creative carving skills in a safe and bonding workspace, to effect the transformation of both raw materials and themselves.
Wild Walks
By producing a map booklet, downloadable PDF & website, along with expertly guided walks, Wild Walks will enable local people of Moulsecoomb & Bevendean to confidently explore, learn more and connect with their wonderful local downland. As a result of this deeper connection we aim to create a renewed sense of belonging and enthusiasm to be guardians of the land.
Walks Of Wisdom
Exercising Freedoms is a nature-connection and creative-community initiative by WOW - Walks of Wisdom, that provides inclusive nature-based experiences for marginalised communities in Brighton and Hove. This project offers guided walks, creative workshops, and seasonal celebrations designed to deepen participants' connection to the Sussex landscape while promoting physical activity, mental well-being, and social engagement.
In addition to fostering a sense of identity, cultural heritage, and belonging, the initiative integrates mindfulness practices and stress-relief techniques into outdoor events, emphasising mental health. "Exercising Freedoms" creates a supportive environment where everyone can benefit from nature, movement, and learning.
By bringing people together in green spaces, this project nurtures resilience, well-being, and community connection by enhancing our relationship with nature and each other, creating a vibrant, connected community. WOW looks forward to seeing the community come together to experience the joy of movement and the outdoors.
Friends, Families and Travellers
‘The Moving Archive’, a community archiving project focused on the heritage and contemporary lived experiences of Gypsies and Travellers in the South Downs and urban fringes, created by Friends, Families and Travellers, a national leading national charity that works to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life.
This project will make our local historical record more inclusive and democratic and create vital space for young people from the Travelling communities to share their stories on their own terms.
I am delighted that the Changing Chalk Partnership, led by the National Trust, can support these wonderful community-led initiatives. Linking our urban communities to the natural beauty, heritage and history of the South Downs is something that the Trust and its partners are passionate about. I hope the Changing Chalk Community Grants Scheme will, over the years, allow more people to appreciate, enjoy and help to protect the amazing countryside that is right outside our doors here in Sussex.
What is the Changing Chalk Community Grants Scheme?
The Changing Chalk Community Grants Scheme supports local, community-led initiatives. It awards funding to groups who want to make a difference in the local area and support Changing Chalk’s overall vision of creating a sustainable future for the eastern South Downs.
Projects funded under the scheme will deliver activities within the Changing Chalk project area and support delivery of the partnership’s objectives under three themes: Restoring Chalkland Biodiversity; Connecting Downs and Towns; and Hearts and Histories of the Downs. In total, the scheme aims to award £150,000 over three years.
The application window for grants for projects and activities within the Changing Chalk project area 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.
It’s fantastic to see the first community grants awarded – they help communities across the South Downs to connect with the nature on their doorsteps. Projects like these highlight the importance of organisations coming together to make a real difference, sharing a common goal to protect our natural heritage, and saving it for everyone’s future. At the Heritage Fund, we are committed to helping support nature’s recovery and are proud to be working with the National Trust along with the wider partnership team on this project.”
Volunteering with Changing Chalk
Find out how you can get involved with the many Changing Chalk projects and help create a sustainable future for the eastern South Downs.
Changing Chalk events and activities
There are regular Changing Chalk activities to get involved with, including archaeological digs, nature walks, heritage events and history talks. Some are regular events and others, like the summer festivals, are one-off. But whatever the season, there's always plenty to do to enjoy and celebrate the chalk grasslands of the eastern South Downs.
All in a day's volunteering with Changing Chalk
Find out what is involved in a typical day's volunteering with some Changing Chalk projects aiming to protect our chalk grasslands for today and all our tomorrows in the eastern South Downs.