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We’re launching a new project to put the local community at the heart of our Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserves future.
We have been caring for and protecting our incredible grassland nature reserve, Ranscombe Farm, for 20 years! Ranscombe is Plantlife’s flagship reserve, an Important Plant Area for its arable flowers and part of a new National Nature Reserve.
To help us celebrate this milestone, we are launching a new project that will put the local community at the heart of the reserves future.
Ranscombe Connect will focus on bringing people together to connect with nature, as well the 660-acre nature reserve in Medway, Kent.
As we approach 2 decades of caring for Ranscombe, we want to make sure the local community is at the heart of its future.
Ranscombe Connect will strengthen the reserves role as a valued green space, a nature-friendly working farm, and a leading example of community conservation. Funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will support inclusive, meaningful participation – enabling more people to connect with and care for this special landscape.
The project’s legacy will be a more resilient, inclusive, and well-connected reserve – and a model to guide similar community conservation initiatives across Plantlife’s UK reserves and beyond.
This work will be completed with the help of our new Senior Participation Officer, working alongside our Reserve Manager.
Ranscombe Farm is our flagship nature reserve, and is a place of national and international importance for its rare plants and rich cultural heritage.
The nature reserve is a living landscape shaped by thousands of years of farming and human activity. Its historic field patterns, rare species, and archaeological finds tell a story that stretches from the Palaeolithic to today.
For local communities, it’s a peaceful escape and a vital part of the area’s identity – especially in a region under pressure from development.
Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve matters to so many people and sectors, including:
This unique mix of history, biodiversity, and research makes Ranscombe a site of national importance – and a model for sustainable land management.
Arts and culture are very important in bringing the community to the centre of our work at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve. We’re thrilled to be working with a new artist who will be exploring ways to connect with nature.
Ayesha Chouglay is a freelance artist, writer and facilitator who will be writing about accessing nature as a deaf and disabled person and bringing an important perspective to conversations about nature, inclusion and connection.
She has joined the project as a Creative Fellow and will be spending her time at our flagship nature reserve, getting to know the plants, landscape and those who care for it.
A consistent thread through her work is that she creates through the lens of her deafness and disabilities. She’s co-judged the Deaf and Disabled Writer Commissions for the London Writers Centre for two years and has recently spoken at the Neurodiversity and Disability Arts Landscape programme at Goldsmiths.
Ayesha has been fascinated with nature since her childhood and spent most of her time outside with plants and animals.
She said: “I’m excited to learn from people who work at and with Ranscombe, and to celebrate specific plants there within a poetic response. I also want to write about accessing the landscape as a deaf and disabled person, exploring this unique place through a deaf and disabled lens.I feel that now, more than ever, we need to talk about the importance of plants and the landscape, and about how we can better engage with and preserve these spaces.”
We’ll be sharing Ayesha’s work during her fellowship. This fellowship is in partnership with Screen South’s Accentuate Programme and made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Image description: A woman, Ayesha, with sunglasses on and wearing a green jumper and grey trousers. She has black hair tied up with a fringe and is crouching in a field of poppies at Ranscombe, holding a camera.
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage.
Ranscombe Connect is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we can deliver this project for the benefit of Ranscombe Farm’s nature and its local communities.
Ranscombe Connect is funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage.
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more.
Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Accentuate
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