Action Asylum: Gardening project to expand in Portsmouth after £1.6m grant

Portsmouth will be given a share of a £1.6m grant that will be beef up a volunteering project which brings local residents and asylum seekers together.

National charity Action Asylum has been given the money by The National Lottery Community Fund. The three-year grant from the Climate Action Fund will support work in 10 cities, including Portsmouth.

In Portsmouth, Action Asylum is run by Portsmouth City of Sanctuary, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and a network of local green partners. Volunteers take part in regular sessions at Southsea Green Community Garden and across Portsmouth's parks and green spaces, working alongside the city council's Clean and Green Team and Portsmouth Tree Wardens on tree planting, habitat restoration, beach cleans and community gardening.

Larger quarterly Climate Action Events with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust focus on coastal habitat work and tree planting along the Solent. Sessions are open to people seeking asylum and other local residents.

Across the project's seven existing cities, Action Asylum volunteers have already planted 25,500 trees and contributed over 79,000 hours of nature-based volunteering. Over the next three years, more than 3,000 volunteers nationally will run 120 large-scale Climate Action Events, and train 50 Community Climate Champions. The funding also launches the Skills Exchange Programme, a two-way training partnership between refugee-sector and environmental organisations, helping volunteers gain conservation skills, qualifications and pathways into green careers.

Action Asylum says that the UK is falling behind on its tree planting targets and Local Nature Recovery Strategies are being rolled out across England, including across Hampshire and the Solent. Community-led volunteering is increasingly seen as a vital part of nature recovery.

Emma Leaper, project director at Action Asylum, said: “This funding means we can do what we know works, bringing people together in nature, on a scale we've never been able to before. For people seeking asylum, who often face many barriers to inclusion, being part of nature recovery and climate resilience isn't just about volunteering. We've seen first-hand how working alongside others in nature can transform someone's confidence and sense of self, and we're incredibly excited about what the next three years will mean for the people and places involved.”

An Action Asylum volunteer in Portsmouth said: “I enjoy volunteering as you can make a positive impact, while learning and growing.”

Action Asylum says it offers “something increasingly rare: a place where people seeking asylum are known not as a problem to be managed, but as neighbours, volunteers, and active contributors to the places they live”.