We have been working with Chichester District Council and Parity Projects to develop a free online tool called Energy Saving Plan Builder to help householders learn about the home retrofit options available to them. 

This tool can help you to understand the changes you could make to your home to reduce the amount of energy you use, make your home more comfortable to live in, reduce your carbon emissions, reduce your bills, and potentially increase the value of your home too. 

Simply put in your postcode, choose your address and your goal, and suitable energy-saving measures will be suggested for your specific property, along with average costs for the works. 

The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) is a national charity that offers an independent, impartial and bespoke service to help managers of community buildings know where to start and what type of funding they could apply for to help make their buildings energy efficient, more sustainable, cost less to run and more comfortable for their users.

If you run or use a community centre, find out how CSE can offer information and guidance to help improve your community centre. This includes a template for a free DIY energy survey and a bespoke service to help community buildings become more energy efficient and cut bills.

New applications now welcome

Wilder Horsham District’s grant scheme is open once again to support practical schemes that improve and connect habitats for wildlife in the Horsham District. Community groups and charities, as well as individual landowners, can apply for funding up to a maximum of £5000. Site visits are also available to help support and develop your project ideas. 

In a recent Sussex Wildlife Trust blog post, Amberley Museum’s Director, Katrina Burton, reports on how her funding is helping this local visitor attraction improve habitats for wildlife.

The Nature Recovery Award is a fund set up with the Sussex Wildlife Trust to complement our Wilder Horsham District initiative. 

Applications close on Friday 28 November 2025.

The Wilder Horsham District initiative was set up in 2020 in a pioneering partnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust. The objectives of this project are to: 

1. Help wildlife thrive across Horsham District. 
2. Create networks of land that are protected and improved for wildlife. This will allow habitats to expand and species populations to increase, helping them become more resilient to change. 
3. Increase awareness of the benefits wildlife provide and the actions communities can take to enhance nature locally. 
4. Maximise the opportunities for climate change mitigation and adaptation through nature restoration. 

You can read all about the project's amazing achievements to date in our most recent Annual Report (2024-25) linked below, or read it as a flip book.

To celebrate National Apple Day on Tuesday 21 October we are celebrating Mayes Park Farm in Warnham which is using the Council's Wilder Horsham District funding to help actively restore and plant Sussex apple orchards as part of a wider nature recovery effort. 

In November 2024, a work party started planting an orchard of native Sussex apple varieties at Mayes Park Farm, with an additional 70+ new fruit trees planted in early 2025. The goal is to bring long-term biodiversity to the site. The orchard initiative is part of Mayes Park's nature-focused management style, away from its former use as a dairy farm, to restore and increase wildlife habitats across the farm. 

The work at Mayes Park is supported by a Nature Recovery Award from the Wilder Horsham District project, a partnership project between Horsham District Council and the Sussex Wildlife Trust. 

Following the purchase of Bramber Brooks Nature Reserve by Horsham District Council in 2024, we have been working closely with the Environment Agency to create a number of wetland ponds and shallow pools, providing varied wetland habitat for birds such as snipe and green sandpiper, as well as dragonflies and fish.

A key sustainability feature of the project was the re-use of soil excavated during the pond creation to provide raised earth walkways to improve public access. This approach has ensured a materials neutral site, with no need for imported or exported materials.

The new raised walkways and pedestrian bridges offer a much-improved experience for walkers, and the biodiversity gains will help us meet our climate goals, underlining our commitment to become carbon neutral as a District by 2050.