Bellway supports green group’s mission to keep Midhurst looking at its best

A volunteering group which helps keep the streets of Midhurst and the surrounding villages neat and tidy has received a £500 donation from Bellway.

The company, which is building new homes at its Perceval Grange development in the town, is the first business to contribute towards a fundraising effort by Midhurst Green Volunteers to purchase a new van to support its activities.

The group, which has more than 20 volunteers, meets twice a week to carry out weeding, mowing and hedge trimming on streets and verges, keeping pavements clear for pedestrians while also helping to improve the streetscape.

Midhurst Green Volunteers uses a van to transport its impressive range of equipment, which includes lawnmowers, hedge trimmers, strimmers, leaf blowers and hand tools, to wherever they carry out their work.

But its current vehicle, a 19-year-old Citroen Dispatch, which it has used for the past four years, is nearing the end of its working life. The group is looking to replace it with a more modern and cost-effective model early next year at an estimated cost of £15,000.

Midhurst Green Volunteers already has around £10,000 in funds to put towards the vehicle and is now preparing to start fundraising for the rest, with Bellway being the first benefactor.

Graham Pooley, founder and chairman of Midhurst Green Volunteers, said: “We are a group of local residents who take pride in improving the quality and accessibility of the town’s pavements and grass verges and the van is absolutely fundamental to our work. We simply couldn’t do the amount of mowing, weeding and strimming that we do without having a van to ferry our kit around.

“Our existing vehicle is approaching retirement so we are looking to raise the funds we need to buy a more cost-effective replacement and we’re grateful to Bellway for kicking things off with this donation. We get a lot of ‘thank yous’ from people walking up and down the street which is great but to receive a tangible ‘thank you’ from a local business like Bellway is extremely helpful.”

Bellway is building 69 homes at Perceval Grange, on the former brickworks and council depot site off Bepton Road. The properties feature a range of low-carbon technologies such as air source heat pumps, solar panels and electric vehicle charging points while eight of the homes are being built to highly energy-efficient Passive House standards.

Bordered by woodland and a site of Importance for Nature Conservation, the development has been carefully designed to reflect its woodland setting while protecting wildlife and enhancing biodiversity. Mature trees within the site have been protected, wildflower planting has taken place to attract pollinators, and bat boxes, dormouse boxes and hibernacula are to be installed.

Natalie Haigh, Sales Manager for Bellway Southern Counties, said: “Supporting communities is something that is extremely important to us and we have formed relationships with a number of local groups and charitable organisations since we started building at Perceval Grange in 2023.

“The aims of the Midhurst Green Volunteers align very closely with Bellway’s own ethos of creating attractive and high-quality neighbourhoods which people are proud to call home. The dedication of their volunteers also speaks to the high level of civic pride and community spirit which exists in Midhurst. We are very pleased to make this contribution towards a new vehicle to enable the group to continue keeping this beautiful town looking at its best.”

For more information about Perceval Grange, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/southern-counties/perceval-grange or call the sales team on 01730 450031.

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