Get involved in the Ouse Valley Climate Action - Community Pitch. Awards of £500-£5,000 are being offered to shortlisted project and community groups to take positive climate action in the Ouse Valley.
Ouse Valley Climate Action (OVCA) aims to bring the whole community together to help the environment and create a more sustainable planet for future generations.
Earlier this year, in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund, Lewes District Council and South Downs National Park Trust, we invited eligible organisations to submit their Community Pitch for sustainable project ideas that meet the Ouse Valley Climate Action initiative themes of reducing carbon usage, supporting nature and enhancing wellbeing, knowledge and skills around climate change.
The shortlisted projects have now been selected to receive anything from £500-£5,000 from the Community Pitch Fund 2025. Now is the time for each project group to do some fundraising of their own to meet 10% of their costs by gathering donations.
Please find below details of each shortlisted project, including their own ‘pitch’ film and a totaliser page to raise donations so that the full funding can be confirmed.
Blooming Biodiversity – Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery, Peacehaven
Meridian Community School in Peacehaven, East Sussex are hoping to create a haven for wildlife and pollinators in their grounds by turning under utilised space into an allotment area and wildflower meadow. One area will have raised beds for the children to grow seeds and vegetables, and the other will be sown with wildflower seed to encourage pollinators and create new wildlife habitat.
Children and adults will benefit from the project through linking to school topics such as: science, food technology and the natural world. By using the allotment, watching the wildlife havens mature, learning will be brought outside the classroom for children. This has been proven to improve mental health and this new area will benefit not only the current group of pupils but future generations of children too – taking what they learn back in to their families.
Forest School lessons will continually develop the habitats, actively increasing the biodiversity and will be shared with families and the community through assemblies, newsletters, social media, the school website and open days.
Meridian Community School have already reached their target of £500 towards their Community Pitch total.
Lewes Climate Hub
Lewes Climate Hub are hoping to run 5 seasons of events between April and December, each designed to empower the community of Lewes to take local action on different aspects of climate change & sustainability.
They hope to inspire people through a varied programme of talks, displays and workshops in their Hub in the heart of Lewes.
The event seasons include:
- Nature recovery,
- Green transport,
- Plastic free,
- Lewes flood commemoration and
- Green energy.
Lewes Climate Hub build community bonds within the town via their ever-growing network of around 45 partner groups and via connections with schools, further education and organisations for the elderly. They work closely with Lewes District & Town Council to ensure their project is here for the long term. They market events widely online and in person around the town. They are self-funded and apply for local council grants as well as to private funding organisations.
Lewes Climate Hub are being asked to raise £530 towards their Community Pitch total. Please help them if you can.
Growing Together – Seaford
Friends of Walmer Road Rec are hoping to create a forest garden and some raised beds through a project called ‘Growing Together – Seaford’.
With climate change and ecological breakdown threatening food security they believe its important that more people know how to grow their own food in a nature friendly way. They hope to pass on skills, bring people together and improve their physical and mental well-being – while also improving the beauty and biodiversity of the park at Walmer Road too. News of the project will be shared on social media and they hope to be able to provide free food for the community.
Growing Together – Seaford are being asked to raise £50 towards their Community Pitch total. Please help them if you can.
Barcombe Bats
Barcombe Parish Council are planning to run a bat survey and conservation initiative in their area. The group’s purpose is to survey and conserve the local bat population and to educate local people about how they can be involved in supporting this.
Its hoped that this project will encourage local people to become involved in surveying the local bat population by making equipment available to monitor local species. Human activity has had a huge impact upon the bat population nationally. By monitoring them, the local community can take action to conserve habitats and aim to ensure that this varied and important animal is protected as far as possible.
We already know that there is a large mixed population of bats which is obvious visibly has been found to be surprisingly varied (including rarer species) on brief professionally led audio assessments. However, local bat data is fragmented.
This funding would enable them to purchase bat detectors
Barcombe Bats have already reached their target of £100 towards their Community Pitch.
Malling Recreation Ground – Cycle Lewes
Cycle Lewes are hoping to improve access for active travel within Lewes by providing a new shared-user path across Malling Recreation Ground, widening an existing path there.
The new and widened path will be surfaced with hard-wearing tarmac, to match existing paths, giving a safe, pleasant and easy to user route to and across the popular Recreation Ground for all kinds of active travel. This will enable and encourage more well-being of residents and visitors and less damage to grass by walkers and cyclists.
The path will be particularly helpful to those with mobility issues and parents/carers with children and buggies, and will be increasingly important with the development of major new housing projects nearby. The path will be adopted and maintained by Lewes District Council. Its opening will be publicised in local media, and it will be added to the Lewes Cycle Map.
Cycle Lewes are being asked to raise £4,500 towards their Community Pitch total. Please help them if you can.
High Cliff Academy – Outdoor Learning Area
High Cliff Academy in Newhaven have a group called SNEEK – standing for Support Nature & Extend Environmental Knowledge.
The aim is to plant hedges and trees and create a small school garden at High Cliff Academy where the children can spend more time in outdoor learning. They aim to use their Forest School training and wildlife gardening skills to help the local communities. We want to support people to have fun outside and help our wildlife thrive.
High Cliff Academy are being asked to raise £500 towards their Community Pitch total. Please help them if you can.
Get Bikery
Get Bikery would like to build on the momentum they gained from the last Community Pitch in the Lewes area. This time they plan to run three community workshops in Newhaven, Peacehaven and Seaford to promote electric cargo bikes to families for use on the school run. The workshops will offer free cargo ebike hire, activities and training. Not only will this provide a sustainable travel option for many but also a viable solution to reduce congestion and carbon emissions and to improve air quality in the area.
Get Bikery are being asked to raise £400 towards their Community Pitch total. Please help them if you can.
Seaford Environmental Alliance (SEA) – Plastic Free People
SEA exists to support the community of Seaford and the surrounding area to better understand the causes and impacts of the climate and ecological crises and to take practical actions to protect and preserve the environment.
One million incontinence pads are used each day in the UK. Most are 80% plastic, taking 500 years to degrade. With an aging population, their impact will soon outstrip that of disposable nappies. Building on our #PlasticFreePeriods initiative, this project encourages a shift towards using washable pads or pants for those with light to moderate bladder incontinence. Six Community Ambassadors will work together to learn about the impacts of disposable incontinence products and try out washable alternatives.
These Ambassadors will cocreate a plan for sharing their learning in the community, and distributing free washable starter packs to local men and women.
Inspiring stories from Ambassadors and community members will be showcased on our website and socials, along with information about switching to sustainable alternatives.
By building the capacity of Ambassadors, and seeking partnerships with local churches and nursing homes, the project will continue to evolve beyond the initial funded period.
SEA Plastic Free People are being asked to raise £500 towards their Community Pitch total. Please help them if you can.
Peacehaven Community School
Peacehaven Community School would like to create a special Wellbeing Space to benefit everyone in their school community by helping them all to connect with nature.
Their outdoor sensory area will stimulate and calm the senses with plants and flowers that will also attract butterflies and bees and encourage biodiversity. They plan to plant wildlife friendly climbers around existing structures and clear a roofed area with seating below. Water collected will be used to hydrate plants and provide drinking water for any insects and birds. The sound of running water from collected water will help create a relaxing and calming ambience Mobiles created from recycled materials will create harmonious sounds. This is a sustainable project that will benefit all students and staff both now and for future years.
Peacehaven Community School are being asked to raise £500 towards their Community Pitch total. Please help them if you can.
Please note:
Donations will be used to support the intended project. If funds are raised in excess of the final project costs, the surplus will be used by the recipient to enhance or maintain the project, in line with its organisation’s objectives.
If this is not possible, the funds will be transferred to the Community Pitch Fund, administered by the South Downs National Park Trust (registered charity no. 1174975), to support other charitable projects in the Ouse Valley Climate Action area.
If a project is unable to proceed or is not completed, donations will similarly be redirected to other eligible projects in the area. If you wish to request a return of your individual donation, please contact: grants@southdowns.gov.uk