Greenwood Community Update: March 2024
Greenwood Community in 2025 has started strongly. Despite the fact that we are at the very beginning of the growing season, we’ve already managed to achieve an impressive ten donations to local organisations! In January of this year, we set an ambitious target of making 30 Greenwood Community donations in 2025, and we’re pleased to already be a third of the way to this target. Below are the first of our donations this year, featuring many longstanding collaborators, as well as some new projects.
Littlehampton Community Orchard
The first donation of 2025 went to a new project for Greenwood Community. Littlehampton Community Orchard was set up by a local committee organised by the Town Council, with the aim of providing a place for residents to enjoy, as well as supporting the biodiversity of the area. Greenwood donated a number of fruit bearing trees for the committee to plant as part of the project. We look forward to seeing the orchard thrive as the project develops, as well as contributing further donations.
Yapton Eco Group
Longstanding Greenwood Community collaborators, Yapton Eco Group, collected their fourth donation from Greenwood in early February. The donation comprised a variety of native hedging plants to be used throughout various locations in the Yapton area. The group is volunteer-led, formed by Yapton Parish Council in 2022, with the aim of protecting, developing, and regenerating local wildlife habitats.
Mark Andrews of Yapton Eco Group collecting a donation of plants
Di Chute of St Wilfred’s Hospice collecting a donation of plants (on the right) and donations being planted at the hospice (on the left).
St Wilfrid’s Hospice
Our third donation of the year went to another longstanding collaborator, St Wilfred’s Hospice in Chichester. In 2023, we made a donation of herbaceous perennials and shrubs for their gardens, to be enjoyed by residents at the hospice. This year, the donation consisted of a mix of shrubs, climbing plants, perennials, and grasses. Di Chute, from the gardening team, said “A huge thank you from the St. Wilfrid’s Hospice gardening team for your very generous donation. The varied selection of plants is much appreciated”.
Aldwick Green Conservation Society
In February, we made a donation to another new project for Greenwood Community. We donated a number of native woodland plants to the Aldwick Green Conservation Society. Founded in 1990, the society is dedicated to conserving Aldwick Green as an amenity for the benefit of residents and visitors, and to promote and encourage wildlife in the natural environment. The native woodland plants donated will help encourage wildlife to the area and boost the biodiversity of the green. Martin Breen of the society said “on behalf of the AGCS, we cannot thank you enough for the tree donation yesterday. It is truly fantastic!”.
Sussex Green Living
One of the major successes of 2024 for Greenwood Community was forming a new partnership with Sussex Green Living. We’re delighted that the partnership has continued into 2025 and already begun to flourish, with three projects completed already this year! A series of pollinator plants and bulbs were donated to create pollinator education stations at St Philip’s Primary School in Uckfield and St Peter’s Primary School in Cowfold, while Hurstpierpoint College received a donation of mixed plants for a larger planting project on the college grounds.
Aldwick Green Conservation Society collecting a donation of plants
Sussex Green Living donation to St Peter’s CE Primary School in Cowfold
Fruit trees donated to Upton Heath Allotment Club
Upton Heath Allotment Club
We recently donated a number of trees to Upton Heath C of E School, based in Cheshire. The school is located near to our Willaston nursery site, and is the first of our community donations to be based in the north, as we look to expand our scheme to new areas. The school’s allotment club received the donation of fruit trees, and planted them on the school grounds as part of an ongoing project, which will hopefully see future donations.
Barnham Community Garden
February saw our third donation to the long-term Barnham Community Garden project, located near our Fresh Acres HQ. Work on the garden began in January 2024, as part of a larger regeneration project by the parish council, situated at the local Community Centre. Our latest donation comprises a mix of different plants, for use in the garden, as well as underplanting various signs around the village. We look forward to seeing the latest donated plants thrive.
Barnham Community Garden
St Philip Howard Catholic School visiting our Fresh Acres nursery for a tour
St Philip Howard Catholic School
Our most recent community donation was to St Philip Howard Catholic School. The school has been frequent Greenwood Community collaborators over the past few years, and the latest donation will be its fourth overall. The plants are used by the school’s gardening club, who plant the donations around the school site for the benefit of wildlife and other students. The most recent donation was combined with a tour of the school, with the pupils getting a behind the scenes look at our Fresh Acres facilities.
If you have a project you would like to nominate for a Greenwood Community donation, please contact the G Team today.