Working in Partnership with Communities – Surrey Choices’ Celebrating Success Awards Ceremony

 

During the afternoon of 7th June, Surrey Hills Society was delighted to be awarded the ‘Working in Partnership with Communities’ award by Surrey Choices as part of their Celebrating Success Awards Ceremony at Denbies.

The award recognised the strong partnership working and commitment that the Surrey Hills Society and Surrey Hills National Landscape have towards working with the Surrey Choices Growth Team over the last 18 months.

Surrey Choices provides a range of support services which are dedicated to improving the independence, confidence and life skills of disabled people, autistic people and those with other support needs, whatever their age, in the local community.

In particular, the Surrey Choices Growth Team provides its customers with fantastic opportunities to gain conservation, access, and gardening work experience. Customers are offered training and support to carry out practical gardening and conservation tasks which help preserve the Surrey countryside and public spaces.

 

The Growth Team have contributed enormously to conservation and access projects across the Surrey Hills managing habitats and access for people and nature. They are now recognised as Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers and have engaged in hedge planting, tree popping, scrub clearance, tree planting, Himalayan balsam pulling, dead hedging as well as contributing to the new Yew Tree boardwalk at Newlands Corner.

 

 

The team are trained to use strimmers and other machines, which many of our volunteers are not trained use so the contribution they make is invaluable and a great asset to the management of the Surrey Hills.

The Society has absolutely loved working with the Growth Team and getting to know individual members more closely.

 

We are honoured to have won the award and look forward to continuing working together on future projects across the Surrey Hills.

Christa Emmett and Gordon Jackson