BY JOHN JACKLIN
Campaigners square up to climate change by creating more space for natural world
CONSERVATION volunteers in South Oxfordshire aim to turn the town green with a ten-fold expansion of a planting project that improves biodiversity and brightens up the streets.
Campaigners at Greener Henley have broadened their target for a scheme called Nature Squared from 500 metres squared to 5,000 metres squared. The project aims to invigorate wildlife and pollinating insects by creating areas for plants and greenery.
The relaunch highlights a significant change in the campaign as the communications manager for Greener Henley Julia Samyui-Adams explains: “We were looking mainly at people planting seeds previously and we know that was a stumbling block for some folks because they weren’t getting the result they wanted and seeing the plants they wanted.”
So last month the charity launched a so-called plant party in order that people who wanted to help could acquire plants without growing them from seed. Julia says: “This party was about encouraging people by creating somewhere they could get plants.” She adds that the party was also about “joining people who can grow plants with those who can’t”.
Diana Barnett, the lead member of outreach work at Greener Henley, explains a reason behind the move to giving away plants not seeds. “We have been working on Nature Squared for a couple of years but giving away packets of seeds … has been a slow process because a lot of the seeds are perennial and some people are a bit impatient, especially if you’ve got children who sometimes expect these flowers to come out instantly and waiting is quite boring.”
Nature Squared, which is a partnership between Greener Henley, the Henley Standard and Henley town council, is described as a nature recovery programme. It invites residents and organisations to plant one square metre of plants to create habitats that support bees, butterflies and other insects and will form a nature corridor through Henley and beyond.
‘Greener Henley wanted to “reach deeper” into the Henley community to get more people involved’
Greener Henley Nature Discovery Day at Mill Meadows
An important aspect to the relaunch, Julia says, is that Greener Henley wanted to “reach deeper” into the Henley community to get more people involved. Kate Oldridge, executive director of Greener Henley, says: “Our mission is to get mass engagement on climate nature action and we are looking at 25 per cent of the local population, which in the Henley and surrounding area is about 5,000 people.
“So we want to activate 5,000 people to get involved, not just coming to one event and then forgetting about it, but really understanding it and buying into it, you know, actively involved. So that is a big mission for us now, activating the whole community.”
LEFT: Volunteers at our Big Green Picnic, GBGW June 2025 (from left Nell Payne, Ian Reissman local councillor, Sharon Harper, Sara Kandiah , Diana Barnett, Kate Oldridge, Rebecca Fern
She adds: “Greener Henley is not political. We encourage people to join the charity from all political affiliations, across the spectrum and we work with a broad coalition of partners from across the town. So we want to be increasing our work.”
That involvement extends to schools, and this year 12 schools have become the first recipients of the Green Futures Awards, a Greener Henley programme that aims to acknowledge measurable and practical action on climate. The scheme recognises schools in embedding climate and nature action and education into their learning programmes.
The awards are on three levels: bronze recognises engagement and communication; silver supports practical climate action and its integration into the curriculum; while gold rewards strategic leadership through climate action planning and long-term thinking.
In this inaugural round, ten schools achieved bronze status: the Oratory Prep School, in Woodcote; Trinity primary in Vicarage Road, Henley; Sacred Heart primary, on Greys Hill; Shiplake primary; Emmer Green primary; Rupert House, Henley; The Henley College, Frieth primary; Kidmore End primary; and Badgemore primary. Gillotts was awarded silver, while Sonning Common primary received a gold award. The awards programme extends to schools from nursery to secondary and colleges from areas across South Oxfordshire such as Benson, Caversham, Goring, the Hambleden Valley and Wargrave
‘Pledge for the Planet is a means for businesses and residents to
get involved in a tangible way’
Kate says: “One of the things that we hear back from schools is that they really value the fact that this is a hyper-local scheme because what we are able to do is offer signposts to local projects and initiatives that schools can get involved in. And also schools can support and learn from other schools in the area that are doing things.”
Another popular platform for the Greener Henley team is a project called Pledge for the Planet, which is a means for businesses and residents to get involved in a tangible way, they say, to help nature for the long-run and on their own terms. “Our pledges offer a wide variety of simple, do-able, inspiring actions, enabling people to pick something that fits well into their life – and registering a pledge takes less than a minute,” Greener Henley says.
Kate notes that it is people and groups with a big audience that are helping Greener Henley. “So it could be like Greg Searle, the Olympic gold medal rower, or Ollie Phillips, the former England rugby sevens captain, or the Henley Literary Festival.
“These people or organisations with big audiences are taking
a pledge and then they’re sharing it with their audience so that we can get then thousands and thousands of people and
hundreds of organisations activated across town.” The groups says the pledges are “designed to meet peoples’ current concerns, whether that is the health of our families, warm homes, saving money, clean air and water, or helping wildlife.
No matter what your budget or individual circumstances are, there is a pledge for everyone.” The pledges, listed on the group’s website, cover such diverse topics as energy, fashion, food, nature, travel, resilience, river, resilience, speak up and stuff we buy. Freddie Van Mierlo, the MP for Henley, has taken a pledge to Learn To Love the Weeds, part of the nature category. The idea is that people come to recognise that plants some people might consider weeds can be food and habitat for wildlife and by reducing the use of chemicals to allow weeds to grow, biodiversity will increase.
Under the speak up tag, the Henley Literary Festival and co-founder Harriet Reed-Ryan have taken a pledge to spread the word about Greener Henley by sharing its promise with the followers of the festival via newsletter.
IN THE COMMUNITY: Businesses, schools and well known local residence getting involved with our opportunities to promote a greener Henley
Mercers Solicitors on New Street, Henley, which has sponsored Greener Henley events has taken pledges including Get Wildlife-friendly, part of the nature section, and Switch to Renewables, which is part of the energy section.
The boat company Hobbs of Henley has taken pledges to Be flood ready and Care for Our River, under the resilience and river sections respectively.
Jonathan Hobbs, the managing director says: “I really enjoyed taking part in the two Greener Henley events as part of the panel contributing to local initiatives focused on sustainability and environmental improvement. Through the discussions, I hope I have contributed to shaping conversations around greener practices and encouraged collaborative action to support a more environmentally responsible and flood resilient Henley on Thames.” At the ADVHQ Gym on Newtown Road, off Reading Road, the owners Adam and Rose Lubbock have taken pledges to Eat Plant Rich, part of the food section, which has included meat-free Mondays. Plant diets are said to user fewer natural resources. The gym has also taken on the Walk It/Bike It pledge, part of the travel section.
‘Greener Henley is a vital and trailblazing example to other communities in its work to make the community and the wider population more climate aware’
From June 6 to 14 Greener Henley will again be taking part in the UK-wide Great Big Green Week, which is a festival of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. The week of events brings together the likes of communities, schools, businesses, churches, mosques and others united in action to protect the planet.
Dr Will Hearsey, of the Hart Surgery in York Road, is a big supporter of Greener Henley. He says: “Greener Henley is a vital and trailblazing example to other communities in its work to make the community and the wider population more climate aware. We know that the climate and the natural world around us has a proven impact on our health so, as GPs, having an organisation on our doorstep that cares so deeply and works hard to protect our climate and biodiversity is a real privilege.”
He adds: “I have really enjoyed taking part in the two Greener Henley events as part of the panel contributing to local initiatives focused on sustainability and environmental improvement in the community. I hope I have contributed to shaping conversations around greener practices and encouraged collaborative action to support a more environmentally responsible and flood resilient Henley.”