In Bloom:
The meadow area is entered again in the RHS “It’s Your Neighbourhood” competition and also in the South & South East in Bloom’s competition in the category “Our Community”. Our judge Guy Clifford will be visiting the site on Thursday 30th June at 1.30pm. Ahead of this day we are organising our Summer Work Party for Saturday 25th June at 10am. Please do come along and help if you can, all ages are very welcome. Tasks will include dead heading and removal of docks from bund and stream edge, creation of bundles for reinforcement of the stream, litter pick and general spring clean.
Additionally we continue to take an active role with our local group, Storrington in Bloom. The village entry is being judged on Thursday 7th July. Their next clean up event will take place on Sunday 3rd July: 10.00-12.00 everyone welcome meet at Place Villerest (opposite HSBC).
Fundraising:
We had a great day at the Duck Race on 8th May, helped by the weather and presence of a bar!! Thank you so much to everybody for the generous donations of tombola prizes. The event raised just over £125.
Native habitat development:
During March, six black poplar trees were planted alongside the edge of the stream. According to the Forestry Commission the black poplar is the most endangered native timber tree in Britain. The trees were provided by Wakehurst Place and are all listed on a national database for future tracking.
Together with the efforts of our volunteers at our Spring Work Party in digging out some of the non-native Sycamore, Norway Maple and Ash suckers in the wooded area to encourage the Hazel to thrive we are making progress in encouraging native tree species in the area.
The River Stor is also part of The Rother Riverfly Scheme which monitors the health of rivers in the Arun and Western Streams catchment in West Sussex. Regular water quality monitoring is the best way of determining the overall health of our rivers and streams. Data can be used to establish a baseline of water quality or identify pollution problems. Surveying for riverflies (freshwater invertebrates) is ideal due to their sensitivity to pollution. Through this scheme, volunteers will be collecting samples from the riverbed at Meadowside each month using a technique called ‘kick sampling’ and recording the presence and abundance of eight riverfly groups. So don’t be alarmed if you see someone you don’t recognise collecting samples of water.
We are also working together with Horsham District Council to further improve the environment for flora and fauna along the chalk stream (see over for details) AND during the summer we intend to carry out an insect and bird count in order to ensure that all of the wildlife in our area is reported back through Sussex Wildlife Trusts. Please do contact us if you are interested in supporting any of our activities:
Friends of Meadowside:
Sue: 01903 742300 Rachel: 01903 741041 Anne: 01903 743291
Email: Friendsofmeadowside1@hotmail.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/friendsofmeadowside
Events:
Unfortunately due to logistical difficulties we have had to postpone our visit to Terra Amata and will instead plan to go next year. A summer BBQ has been proposed to be held by the play area during the school holidays. Further details will follow if funding is available.
Bin Scheme:
With some perseverance we have now managed to secure an additional couple of bins from Horsham District Council to place at Meadowside. Discussions are taking place as to location although it is felt that one should be located around the outside of the meadow as you walk up from Hanover Walk to Meadowside, the other is likely to be positioned in the meadow near to a bench. Neither Horsham District Council nor the Parish Council will provide funding to empty these bins so we are looking for volunteers to help us, both in emptying the bin on an as needed basis and to allow the removed waste to be placed in their usual household waste bin for collection.