Category: Society News

Surrey Hills celebrates National Tree Planting Day

Posted on | by Emma
Surrey Hills thanks the hundreds of community volunteers planting 13,500 trees for the Queen’s Green Canopy in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty This winter, Surrey Hills Society have worked with 300 volunteers from a diverse range of communities to support the planting of over 2km of native hedgerow and 1000 woodland trees in the Surrey Hills. This engages with the unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which is inviting people to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee” in aid of The Queen’s Green Canopy. This 2km of hedgerow forms part of the 7.5km being planting in the Surrey Hills through collaborative land manager groups funding by the Surrey Hills Farming in Protected Landscapes fund (FiPL). The trees that have been planted are a mixture of native species including hawthorn, field maple and hazel which create essential wildlife corridors and habitat for a wide variety of species such as the hazel dormouse, brown hairstreak butterfly and turtle dove.
“Thank you to all those who have given up their time to be involved in our tree planting efforts. Surrey Hills Society have engaged with members of the community, secondary school students, corporate staff teams and members of the Surrey Choices Growth Team, who all have the common aim of wanting to contribute positively to the environment. It has been wonderful to witness the enjoyment of volunteers, in learning more about both the environment and each other, as well as experiencing the benefit of being outside.” Gordon Jackson, Chair of Surrey Hills Society and Surrey Hills Trust Fund
  The Surrey Choices Growth Team in partnership with Surrey Hills Society are funded by FiPL to work one day a week at Newlands Corner, helping to manage access for people and improve habitat for nature as part of the Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers programme. In February, the Surrey Hills was delighted to host The Rt Hon Lord Benyon, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Rural Affairs, Access to Nature and Biosecurity) who visited the Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers to view the excellent progress that they have made with removing invasive scrub from the chalk grassland, a habitat which is internationally important for its rarity and species richness.
Over the last few months, a huge variety of volunteer days have taken place in the Surrey Hills. This includes the first Surrey Hills Corporate Champions tree planting day with Allianz Insurance, a partnership between Surrey Hills Enterprises and Surrey Hills Society. The Allianz Tree Planting Day was held on Friday 25 February at Knowle Park in Cranleigh and saw 1,000 trees and shrubs planted. These essential efforts to help support biodiversity and conservation could not be possible without the engagement from farmers, landowners and volunteers. Angus Stovold of Lydling Farm, comments on the fantastic community work that has been undertaken to help plant trees on the farm;
I knew the local community was interested in our conservation work but we were blown away by the enthusiasm and help they gave willingly. It has made our decisions to continue at a pace much easier to fully integrate our farming with nature recovery.
The support of local Members of Parliament (MPs) has also been invaluable. On Friday 11 March, which was National Tree Planting Day, a group of Surrey MPs attended Lydling Farm, Shackleford to play their part in planting native hedgerow in the Surrey Hills.
I was delighted to be invited to Lydling Farm in the Surrey Hills to participate in some tree planting in aid of The Queen’s Green Canopy. The astonishing efforts made by the Surrey Hills, farmers, landowners and their community volunteers will create a legacy of essential habitat for rare and vulnerable species for years to come. Angela Richardson, Member of Parliament for Guildford

Earl of Wessex presents Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

Posted on | by Caroline | Leave a Comment on Earl of Wessex presents Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

The Earl of Wessex KG GCVO visited the Surrey Hills last week to present The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) to the Surrey Hills Society.

The presentation took place at Albury Saxon Church where he was met by over 40 Surrey Hills Society volunteers. He spent time talking to the volunteers about the work that they do to promote and protect the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. He also heard about the Heritage Lottery funded Tales of the Tillingbourne project, which sought to encourage local communities along the valley of the River Tillingbourne to engage in the unique and beautiful landscape by researching its industries, promoting heritage trails, capturing local knowledge through oral histories, and monitoring and recording the ecology of the river. Part of the legacy of the project is a permanent display at Shere Museum that includes 7 puppets.

The Earl was shown a short play by Nick White entitled “Tales of the Wey”, which the Society hopes to develop as part of a sequel to the Tales of the Tillingbourne Project.

His Royal Highness was also presented with two books.  One entitled, “Our Changing Landscape”, written and researched by Society Vice President Ken Bare, tells how the Surrey Hills AONB came into being 60 years ago and how the area has changed since.  The other “Walks for All Ages” was written by the Society’s other Vice President, Christine Howard and features 20 Surrey Walks ranging from 2 to 6 miles long.

The Earl then presented Society Chairman Gordon Jackson with the Queen’s Award for “encouraging people to explore and learn about the special qualities of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”. The Queen’s Award is the highest honour given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities and was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of HM The Queen’s coronation.

Gordon Jackson, Chairman of the Society, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to receive this Award, which recognises the huge voluntary contribution this relatively young charity has made to the Surrey Hills. It was particularly fitting that the presentation was held in Albury Old Saxon Church in the heart of the Surrey Hills and I would like to thank the Friends of Albury Saxon Church for facilitating this. I am so pleased that our volunteers have been given the recognition they deserve and we look forward to continuing to promote the iconic and distinctive landscape of the Surrey Hills and to help discover and conserve our Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.’

For further information on the Surrey Hills Society visit; www.surreyhillssociety.org

Surrey Hills Society receives The Queens Award

Posted on | by Caroline | Leave a Comment on Surrey Hills Society receives The Queens Award

More than 70 Surrey Hills Society volunteers have been recognised for their outstanding contributions in support of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), as a result of the Surrey Hills Society receiving The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, which is the equivalent of an MBE for volunteer groups.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of The Queen’s coronation.

Surrey Hills Society volunteers promote this special protected landscape in many different ways, ranging from:
• Manning our stall at local shows across the county, handing out free walks leaflets and showcasing the special attractions of the area
• Giving talks to other groups and organisations
• Running events to educate our members and residents about the area
• Leading free walks across the county
• Supporting and promoting the work of other related charities

Our volunteers share their passion for everything to do with the Surrey Hills – from its wonderful flora and fauna and rare habitats to its unique culture and heritage, as well as its leisure opportunities. They also collaborate with other organisations across the Surrey Hills to raise funds for agreed worthwhile projects within the area, which benefits both wildlife and the residents of Surrey.

Representing all the award-winning volunteers, former Vice Chairman, Ken Bare and his wife Angela Hume, who is also a volunteer with the Surrey Hills, attended a Royal garden party at Buckingham Palace recently to celebrate the charity’s success. Along with Chris Howard, Ken is probably the most well-known volunteer with the Society, as he has been the lead at shows and fetes across Surrey for the last ten years and is also the main public speaker for the talks programme that is delivered to a variety of organisations across the south east.

Ken said: ‘It was such a privilege to be invited to Buckingham Palace. Being a representative for all the volunteers across the Surrey Hills was a great honour. It was a wonderful occasion and we were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the magnificent garden at its best.

Meanwhile all volunteers from the charity will be celebrating later this summer, when the Surrey Hills Society will be presented with the award by Michael More-Molyneux, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey

Gordon Jackson, Chairman of the Society, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to receive this award, which recognises the huge voluntary contribution this relatively young charity has made to this county. I am so pleased that our volunteers have been given the recognition that they deserve and we look forward to continuing to promote the iconic and distinctive landscape of the Surrey Hills and to help discover and conserve our Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Current Vice President, Chris Howard, who was Chairman of the Society for seven years and stood down only last year said ‘We hope our volunteers feel extremely proud of the recognition that this award represents. They have all been so wonderful to work with and many have become my dearest friends’. Chris added: ‘I would recommend volunteering with the Surrey Hills Society to anyone who shares a passion for the Surrey Hills’ unique landscape and wants to learn more about this wonderful countryside on their doorstep.’

To find out more about the work of the Surrey Hills Society click here.