Changing Chalk is a multi-partner, multi-project initiative led by the National Trust. Its aim is to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life, and provide new experiences in the outdoors.
By connecting nature, people and heritage across a 458 sqkm area of the eastern South Downs, this internationally-significant landscape can be restored and protected for today and all our tomorrows.
Over four years, the 18 projects being delivered by the ten partners will create multiple connections across the urban and rural areas of the Downs, and will restore and reconnect the fragmented areas of remaining chalk grassland. Changing Chalk will:
The Changing Chalk project is supported by a £2.23m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and funding from People's Postcode Lottery and The Linbury Trust.
The themes around connecting nature, people and heritage have never felt more important or relevant.
Much of the Changing Chalk project area falls within the South Downs National Park and it is home to rare and protected wildlife and plantlife, and important archaeological sites. But what also makes this area so special is its rare chalk grassland which has its origins 6,000 years ago when people first began clearing forests to settle and farm.
It supports such a rich and diverse range of plants and insects that it’s sometimes referred to as ‘Europe’s tropical rainforest’. Around 40 species of flowering plant can be found in just one square metre of chalk grassland, with many of these species growing nowhere else, including rare orchids and wildflowers. It is also home to rare insects including the Wart-biter Bush-cricket.
However, unimproved chalk grassland has suffered badly from loss and fragmentation over the past 80 years. Since the national call to "plough up" in the 1940s, there has been a decline in traditional ways of looking after the landscape. It now makes up just 4% of the land in the South Downs National Park and many of the sites that remain are small and isolated, with the chalk grassland wildlife threatened by encroaching scrub as well as climate change.
Neighbouring the Downs is one of the most densely-populated coastal regions of northern Europe. Around 750,00 people live here, in multi-cultural towns like bustling Brighton and Hove, charming Lewes, and historic Eastbourne.
But the Changing Chalk project area has some of the most economically-deprived wards in the UK, with high unemployment, and poor physical and mental health. The stresses of today’s world have created new challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of access to nature and open space for people’s well-being.
The Sussex Downs and towns have a rich shared heritage but both are facing unprecedented threats.
Working at landscape scale, with a wide range of partners and communities, is our best chance to better understand this ever-changing landscape and find solutions to conserve heritage for future generations.
Changing Chalk is delivering 18 inter-connected projects and activities to address these challenges which, together, unite nature, people and heritage and create a more sustainable future for the Downs and their towns. In addition, a series of apprenticeships and training opportunities are being created, giving young people across Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne and Lewes the chance to learn the skills needed by rangers and archaeologists. The projects can be summarised under three themes:
If you've got a project of your own in mind that supports local, grassroots and community-led initiatives and which will contribute to the overall objectives and vision of the Changing Chalk partnership, the Changing Chalk Community Grants Scheme may be able to help.
While our current window for funding applications is now closed, the next round will open in Spring 2024. There are grants of up to £5,000 available for community projects and up to £10,000 for priority chalk grassland projects.
Expressions of interest for habitat projects between £5,000 and £10,000 are welcomed at any stage.
We will post details of the next round here as soon as they are confirmed so do check back. In the meantime you can learn more about the Community Grants Scheme, find out who is eligible to apply and the process for doing so.
Thanks to the National Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’ve already funded grants totalling £21,828. In the first round of applications, six groups were awarded grants varying from £1,000 to £5,000. You can read more about this round's successful projects here.
It's easy to get involved with all the events and activities run by the Changing Chalk partners.
There's a wide range of volunteering opportunities across the partnership's 18 projects covering habitat and conservation, monument mentoring, community participation, office volunteering and more.
August 2023
The Changing Chalk Community Grants Scheme launched in March 2023 and thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Trust, grants totalling £21,828 have been awarded in the first round of applications. These six groups have now got the green light to put their plans into practice and we can't wait to see what they achieve.
Read about Round 1's successful project bids here.
Changing Chalk is supported by a £2.23m Heritage Fund grant made possible thanks to National Lottery players; by players of People's Postcode Lottery; and The Linbury Trust. Thank you.
Many thanks also, to our generous supporters who wish to remain anonymous.
Find out how you can get involved with the many Changing Chalk projects and help ensure a sustainable future for the eastern South Downs.
Brighton and Hove City Council is the local authority of the city of Brighton and Hove.
We’re a non-profit organisation helping people learn to cook, eat a healthy diet, grow their own food and waste less food.
Buglife is the only organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. We’re actively working to save our rarest little animals, everything from bees to beetles, worms to woodlice and jumping spiders to jellyfish
The council with responsibility for the Lewes district and borough of Eastbourne
Natural England is the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England. They help to protect and restore our natural world.
The Railway Land Wildlife Trust exists to inspire environmental sustainability by bringing nature to the heart of Lewes.
The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) is responsible for keeping the South Downs a special place. The SDNPA is also the planning authority for the National Park.
We champion wildlife and natural places everywhere in Sussex and inspire people to take action for nature.
The Living Coast is a UNESCO World Biosphere Region. It embraces a wonderfully biodiverse stretch of the chalky South Downs and Sussex coast between the River Adur at Shoreham-by-Sea and the River Ouse at Newhaven.
Discover the world of science behind our botanical collections, with over 50,000 living plants to be found across our UNESCO World Heritage site.
The public body that looks after England's historic environment.
Writing Our Legacy CIC is an arts and heritage organisation that enables Black, Asian and ethnically diverse/BPOC* people to tell their story through writing and the creative arts.
Discover the Downs from Above and see how human activity has shaped the history and heritage of the Downs with a new report and interactive archaeology tool.
Find out the latest from Find Your Future at 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.
Changing Chalk archaeology apprentice Kayleigh talks about her experiences on our project, Monument Mentors.
