A host of environmental projects supported by Grundon to the tune of more than £100,000 were completed in the last six months of 2025.
The largest saw a £25,600 grant help transform an old field into a community garden, wildflower meadows, orchard and allotments at South Stoke Park in the south of the county; while the smallest was £720 to support a pond restoration project at Childrey, near Wantage.
The funding was provided via the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) and distributed by the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE), an environmental charity that manages the grants on Grundon’s behalf.
Toni Robinson, Risk & Sustainability Director, said: “We are incredibly proud to have helped so many wonderful projects across the county, from little village ponds to major community gardening projects.
“Working with TOE we get to see the difference that LCF monies make to boosting wildlife habitat, reinvigorating overgrown and underused areas of land and giving people access to nature in a way that they weren’t able to enjoy before. As our ‘home’ county, we are just thrilled to support so many Oxfordshire environmental programmes and look forward to seeing them grow and grow in the years to come.”
Toni Robinson
Risk & Sustainability Director
One of the most innovative projects was at Bridge Street Garden, in Banbury, where a ‘Parklet for Pollinators, People and Peace’ was created in an area just 7m x 7m. Close to Grundon’s Banbury operation, it is an extension to the original Bridge Street Community Garden project, which has received previous support.
After the latest £10,400 investment, the area now features raised planters – each with information about the plants and their benefits for wildlife – together with recycled plastic seating so visitors can enjoy views over the Oxford Canal. Open to the public 24/7, it is also now regularly used by mental health, youth, and refugee advocacy groups.
The South Stoke Park project saw Grundon award grants of over £25,600 via TOE. Together with other funding, a field which was previously used for grazing horses, is now a thriving gardening community producing organic food in the centre of the village.
Volunteers have planted trees, built raised beds and a polytunnel, and added bird boxes, bat boxes and insect hotels, as well as other work including installing water pipes and troughs and planting wildflower plugs.
One of the smaller grants saw £2,500 donated to the Blackbird Leys wildflowers project. Situated on the edge of Oxford, the project has transformed an area of allotment space into a colourful wildflower garden designed to support bees, butterflies and birds. Complete with a play area and gazebo to protect against the weather, it provides a safe place for local parents, children and the wider community to learn about nature, grow together and enjoy the benefits of being outdoors.
Wychwood Wild Garden in Shipton-under-Wychwood, near Chipping Norton, is 12.5 acres of beautiful avenues of trees, gardens, ponds and woodland areas which are open to the public. Over time, the paths through the gardens had fallen into disrepair, leading to flooding in the winter months and meaning plants either side of the paths were trampled by visitors trying to avoid the wet areas.
Through TOE, Grundon donated £18,700 to enable 170m of footpath to be improved by contractors, while volunteers then renovated a further 50m, enabling visitors to once again enjoy their walks without getting their feet wet.
One longer-term biodiversity project saw the restoration of Crays Pond, near Goring Heath, with Grundon providing a £15,000 grant to help with a tree clearance and pond dredging programme.
A spokesperson for Goring Heath Parish Council said: “Without the support of TOE, the parish council would not have been able to fund the project. This important community asset would have gradually disappeared with the loss of diversity of flora and fauna.”
At Aston’s Eyot, a 32-acre island nature reserve in East Oxford, a grant of over £6,000 paid for fencing to keep deer out of an area so habitat restoration, including reseeding and creating additional wildlife habitats can continue.
Helping to address the ongoing problem of floating pennywort in rivers and ponds, Grundon provided £4,700 helping fund a contractor to remove the invasive species from the Great Coxwell Barn Pond. The pond is close to Great Coxwell Barn, a National Trust property, situated near Faringdon.
The Childrey Pond Restoration project saw Grundon’s grant meet half of the costs to clear silt and vegetation in and around Childrey village’s picturesque village pond.