Let’s Do Business Group Goes Green!
On Thursday 25th July, the team at Let’s Do Business Group swapped our phones and laptops for wellies and gardening gloves to volunteer with the Ore Community Land Trust.
Back in March 2009, the Ore Community Land Trust was established with the main goal of saving the greenspace in the Upper Ore Valley (Speckled Wood) area from development and protecting it for community use, preserving wildlife habitats, and creating recreational areas.
Speckled Wood was originally an open valley with a stream running through it and was used for small holdings with an area allocated for allotments. After years of being abandoned, the small holdings and allotments saw nature gradually begin to take over. Many of the footpaths became overgrown and inaccessible until volunteers began to clear away the discarded materials and reopened the paths.
Today, Speckled Wood is now frequented by residents in the area as a place to go on a relaxing walk or travelling through to get to their destination, as well as being used as a Forest School by one of the volunteers.
Initially, Let’s Do Business Group contacted Sarah Watson from Sussex Wildlife Trust to see how we could help the community, who were then able to put us in touch with the Ore Community Land Trust.
Split into two groups, the first team led by Jo Walker helped to clean up the landscaping by trimming back nettles and de-weeding at the volunteer base, whilst the other team led by Ian Sier cleaned out rubbish from the stream and fixed the bridges. After a few hours, progress had been made and the team regrouped to enjoy some homemade treats made by Kelly Pelaou - one of the volunteers.
“It has been a great help to us to have such an enthusiastic group from Let’s Do Business join us for our regular volunteer session, everyone got stuck in and we achieved so much in one morning!”
Over time, the Trust plans to treat and eradicate invasive Japanese Knotweed, enhance the woodland by clearing away undergrowth and replanting trees, remove rubbish out of the stream and create a pond to increase biodiversity, improve the footpath and repair the steps, and protect wildlife habitats.
The volunteers meet up every Thursday from 10am till 1pm, and are keen to recruit other volunteers to help them with their goal.
Would your business like to get involved with volunteering for the Ore Community Land Trust? Contact them at info@oreclt.org to find out more about how you can help!