Greenwood Community Update: September 2024
Providing plants to community backed projects to enhance local green spaces.
Despite the mixed weather, the summer of 2024 has provided much activity for our Greenwood Community initiative, with many long-time collaborators, as well as new partners, taking plant donations from Greenwood to help regenerate and enhance local green spaces. At the beginning of the year, we set a target of 24 donations to local projects, and we’re delighted to be well on our way to achieving this goal. Below are some of the most recent collaborations.
St Barnabas Hospice – National Growers’ Week Plant sale
In late June, Greenwood donated a number of mixed plants to St Barnabas Hospice. The organisation, who are frequent collaborators of the Greenwood Community scheme, aim to provide dignity and comfort for adults who require specialised, supportive care. The hospice is dear to a lot of members of the G Team, as many have had relatives who spent time receiving treatment there in the past. The plants were used as part of their National Garden Scheme open day, where they were sold to visitors and staff alike, raising a total of £527 on the day for the hospice. Nicholas Robert-Jones, who works for the hospice, said “Everyone was really pleased with how the day went. We had some lovely feedback and will certainly be looking to open the garden again next year. Thanks to Greenwood for the donation of plants.”
Sussex Wildlife Trust
Greenwood’s thirteenth donation of the year went to Greenwood Community debutants, Sussex Wildlife Trust. The trust is an organisation of over 38,000 members, who are helping to protect the rich natural Heritage of East and West Sussex. Their aim is to ensure that future generations can experience the joy and well-being that comes from connecting with nature. Greenwood donated 40 mixed sensory plants, which have been planted in a small wildlife garden in Woods Mill. The site receives many school visits a year, and aims to teach children about biodiversity and nature. We’re delighted to be working with Sussex Wildlife Trust, and look forward to making more donations in the future.
Chichester Community Development Trust
In July, Greenwood donated 75 mixed native hedging plants to Chichester Community Development Trust. The trust, with whom Greenwood have collaborated in the past, aims to help local communities create bright futures. They manage projects and initiatives that raise aspirations and create volunteering and job opportunities for local communities. The hedging plants were used to create a natural barrier at a local cricket ground near Chichester, which will not only provide some natural screening, but will also help to create wildlife corridors, which will improve the local biodiversity, allowing birds and other small animals to take shelter and find safe passage within the hedges.
Breathing Spaces
This summer, Greenwood donated plants to Breathing Spaces, a project set up and backed by Transition Town Worthing, which aims to oversee, maintain, and improve several community gardens around the Worthing area. The group is entirely volunteer-led, and host various gardening events, encouraging the local community to get involved with the project. The plants Greenwood donated were planted in a small garden project, with the aim of improving the quality of the planting scheme, and providing more overall interest to the green space.
Barnham Community Garden
Earlier this year, we initially donated a series of plants to Barnham Community Garden, which is a new scheme set out by the Barnham Parish Council, to give local residents a green space to use and enjoy. In August, we were delighted to further boost the planting of the garden, by providing an additional donation to the scheme. The plants, which were a mixture of shrubs, grasses, and ornamentals, were not only used to plant in the community garden, but will also be used to underplant the village signs. Penny Wycherley, who is a councillor Barnham and Eastergate Parish Council, said Barnham is very close to Greenwood’s Fresh Acres headquarters, with a lot of the G Team being residents of the village themselves. It is a pleasure to be able to contribute to the visual appeal and biodiversity of the local area. The project is still ongoing, with completion expected by 2025.
Storrington Bloom group
Our sixteenth donation of the year was to a new organisation to Greenwood Community, but one which helps to provide green spaces for social benefit to residents of Storrington, a village in West Sussex. The group initially formed in 2013, with the aim of entering the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Bloom for Britain’ award. Since then however, the group has shifted its focus to providing plants to local projects, and bolstering the green spaces of the Storrington community. Greenwood donated a series of mixed shrubs, to help enhance the communal gardens of the village. Cherril Castle, a member of the group, said “We at Storrington Bloom would like to thank Greenwood for their generosity in donating the plants. They will be used to help bring life back into some previously neglected sites in the local village, which we now look after.”
If you know of a project that you’d like to nominate for a community donation, get in touch with us today.
