Representatives from community groups, town and parish councils and charities across the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) have come together for a special event at Wadhurst Park to celebrate their Sussex Lund funding success.
Created by Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, this year Sussex Lund has allocated more than £150,000 to 35 projects designed to improve the ecology and landscape of the AONB. Each project will receive a grant of between £500 and £10,000. Since it launched in 2016, Sussex Lund has awarded £540,000 to 100 projects.
The High Weald AONB Partnership administers the fund in collaboration with Lund Trust, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.
Sussex Lund supports projects that make tangible improvements to the High Weald and can inspire wider change. This year’s projects include:
- Creating a pond and dipping platform in Crowborough's new pocket park
- Planting hazel cobnut trees and hazel whips to increase Dormouse habitat
- Several hedge-laying and restoration projects to create wildlife corridors and maintain historic boundary lines
- Support for volunteer groups managing woodland, grassland and community green spaces
- Removing invasive species, such as rhododendron, from small community woodlands.
Lisbet Rausing, co-founder of Lund Trust, said: “The Sussex Weald has been our family’s home for the last four decades – we love this ancient, small-scale farming landscape. We are delighted to support good ideas for practical work to make the High Weald even more green and more beautiful, and thus inspire us all to care for it sensitively and gently.”
Recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the High Weald is an exceptional medieval landscape with a wealth of wildlife and historic features that provide a strong sense of place, enrich lives and inspire community pride.
A full list of all Sussex Lund 2018 projects can be downloaded here: pdf Sussex Lund Grant Summary - 2018 (254 KB) .
SUSSEX LUND WILL RE-OPEN FOR NEW APPLICATIONS IN EARLY 2019. Potential applicants must discuss their proposal at an early stage with the High Weald team on 01424 723014 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Sussex Lund is open to anyone who has a project that will benefit the landscape of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This includes charities, community groups, schools, trusts, councils, farmers and landowners. For more information on Sussex Lund and the application criteria, please download the guidance documents from our website: https://www.highweald.org/downloads/publications/project-reports/sussex-lund.html or visit our dedicated web page: https://www.highweald.org/look-after/sussex-lund.html.
Above: Works carried out to restore the Victorian Well at the centre of Ticehurst village as part of a successful 2017 Sussex Lund project led by Ticehurst Parish Council.