Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers

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Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers

Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers, SNCV, is the main nature conservation organisation focused on operating within the London Borough of Sutton.

With our origins dating back to 1987 we have been 'Helping wildlife on Sutton's doorstep ever since. Our main aims are the conservation and improvement of sites of wildlife value in the borough. We carry out practical maintenance and habitat management work throughout the year. These tasks include hedgelaying, coppicing, scrub clearance and fence construction. During the spring and summer, we also

carry out ecological surveys and monitoring, recording plants and animals to help inform our management. The sites that we work on vary in character and size, from small pockets of ‘green space’ to large Local Nature Reserves. Some of these sites have limited public access and so volunteer task days provide excellent opportunities to see some hidden wildlife gems! We are lucky to have a variety of habitats within Sutton, including chalk grassland, woodland and wetlands & ponds, all of which we help to maintain and conserve for wildlife. Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers is a key partner to the London Borough of Sutton Biodiversity Team and our work contributes to helping to improve the overall biodiversity in Sutton and counts towards the targets set out in the Biodiversity Action Plan 2010-2015. In all, SNCV contributes around 700 volunteer days per year to help local wildlife and habitats.

20/08/2026

Thursday 20th August 2026 - It was a warm day alternating between sunshine, grey clouds and blip of spitting rain as another sizeable contingent of volunteers got working at the North Meadow of Roundshaw Downs Playing Fields.

After giving the Tractor and Topper a bit of a head start the volunteers were soon back into the swing of another round of Autumn meadow cuts, raking the arisings into windrows before consolidating them into some significantly sized stacks.

After finishing the cut, depositing the Tractor at base and returning with the full sides on the trailer the team then finished the day loading one trailer-full of the arisings for disposal before a return visit next week to clear the remaining two thirds.

18/08/2026

Tuesday 18th August 2026 - The day seemed to have a more Autumnal feel to it after the last couple of roasting months as another large turnout of volunteers set about working at Richmond Green.

With the nearby river keeping the vegetation sustained and on the whole green, todays activities were a fair bit of brush-cutting and later tractor mowing to the forest of mainly Nettles, dead-heading and pulling of Docks and Thistles and lopping down of re-emerging Wingnut Tree regrowth filling one trailer-load with plenty to spare for another day!

11/08/2026

Tuesday 11th August 2026 - With a good bit of breeze accompanying another full day of Sun the team, up to full strength returned to Roundshaw Downs.

As one slither of the team set about installing 6 more Clippex posts to the outer perimeter of the Cattle Paddocks the remaining force diverted their energies to a light spot of vegetation control on the fencing, Brush-cut the Chalk Scrapes and lastly really put their eyes to good use seeking out Common Ragwort bleached of its usual colouring ready for contractor cutting and subsequent fodder usage.

06/08/2026

Thursday 6th August 2026 - The weather was hot but not overly oppressive for todays fair sized team working in the the near shade-less cattle paddocks of Roundshaw Downs.

With the two main spheres of work dovetailing each other, as one section of the team set about clearing Bramble and clambering vegetation from along the stock-netting fence-line (to aid access), the remaining division followed up with a generously loaned power post-driver to install around 30 new fence-posts, bolstering the old rickety wooden ones before the Cattles imminent return.

04/08/2026

Tuesday 4th August 2026 - With a new volunteer joining the ranks it was one of the biggest team turnouts for quite a few weeks as they tackled works at London Road Edge.

Working below the shaded canopy on this very urban site, the volunteers set about pushing Bramble back along the dirt track paths, cleared litter that had blown in from the road-side and on the day longest task set about repairing the fencing that was showing its age or collapsing completely.

30/07/2026

Thursday 30th July 2026 - An ample supply of shade was on offer for todays turnout of volunteers as they got to grips with The Spinney.

With a phase 1 survey being undertaken at Wilderness Island the rest of the team spent their time on some needed vegetation control at the slightly scruffy looking Spinney, clearing back Ivy from the front fence-line to widen the pavement space, clearing Nettles from the open glade and bashing back Bramble from the main track of the site.

28/07/2026

Tuesday 28th July 2026 -It was a slowly heating day for the sizeable team at Carshalton Road Pastures, luckily there was a fair bit of breeze blowing over the site to make things that little bit more bearable.

With phase 1 surveys being undertaken at the nearby Grove Lane and Lambert Copse, the remaining assembly concentrated their efforts on tackling Bramble and scrubby Tree regrowth around the chalk scrapes and the new chalky bund to aid the contractor grass cutting over the coming months.

23/07/2026

Thursday 23rd July 2026 - It was still quite a hot day and shade was at bare minimum for a fairly large team working at Queen Marys Park.

As the phase 1 survey got going across the large site the rest of the team were anchored around the Butterfly Bank and its immediate vicinity where they devoted their time to weeding out Bramble and the odd spot of Nettle from amongst the desired wild flowers and dead heading patches of Hog W**d that were just meters from the undulating bank.

21/07/2026

Tuesday 21st July 2026 - The temperature was at a more tolerable level for today smaller turnout of volunteers as they stretched the task between the Wellfield complex of sites and Oaks Park.

Undertaking the last couple of condition assessments, the surveyors performed their random stop sampling at Oaks Park and then Wellfield East whilst the remaining contingent got busy at Wellfield North tackling Clematis that has begun to migrate from the fence-line into the chalk grassland.

16/07/2026

Thursday 16th July 2026 - With a slightly smaller contingent of volunteers todays activities were divided between the Lakeside and Wet Meadow areas of Beddington Park.

As the surveying squad set about carrying out the phase 1 survey and condition assessments (amid some of the tallest specimens of Wild Carrot on the teams records) at the Lakeside Meadow the remaining team could be found clearing the route for the extension to the fenceline on the Wet meadow (to fully enclose the cattle when they are introduced).

Address

C/o Biodiversity Team, Civic Offices, Street Nicholas Way
Sutton
SM11EA

Website

http://www.sncv.org.uk/

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