Meet the Storrington and Arun Valley Regional Group

Emma Chaplin
, 20 November 2025
Meet the Storrington and Arun Valley Regional Group
Ines Garcia (Secretary) Sarah Abercromby (Chair) Katharine Metters (Events Coordinator).Storrington & Arun Regional Group

We caught up with Sarah Abercrombie, vet and Chair of the Storrington and Arun Valley Regional Group!

Storrington and Arun Valley Regional Group is a thriving regional group of the Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT) with over 300 members. The group was founded in 2021, first chaired by Phil Huggins, and I joined the committee in May 2023. I had been persuaded by Viv Doussy, my neighbour and then interim chair, to join as a committee member. She knew about my interest both in wildlife and the work of SWT.

As a child, I used to spend many hours alone on horseback, exploring the woods of the North Downs, just me and my ‘Thelwell’ pony. This was my escape from the horrors of teenage- worries, and how I became aware of the natural world around me. More recently I’ve understood the boost to my mental health that this complete immersion in nature provided me, something we hope to demonstrate to others through our group’s events.

When my husband and I moved to West Sussex in 1998, we quickly began to appreciate the stunning countryside in our local area, and this heightened my interest in wildlife. We were extremely fortunate to acquire a dilapidated property on the edge of Storrington, with a couple of acres of land. Before we started the renovations, the garden was completely overgrown and an oasis for wildlife, we now have a few carefully managed areas and an adjacent wildflower meadow. We have planted many fruit trees and hundreds of native trees within our dying hedgerow (to replace the dead elm and ash) as well as in small clumps on the perimeter of the flower meadow. In the spring of 2025, we dug a large pond, although we are yet to add pond plants, we have already seen our first newt! I am impatient to see what wildlife visits it next year.

It's hard to name one favourite wild place as we have such a wide variety in the locality, with woodland, heathland, chalk downland, ponds and the Arun valley with its river meadows. I feel utterly at home walking along our local lanes buried within tunnels of old trees (many of them still waiting for me to enter on the Ancient Tree Inventory). I relish my early-morning dog walk in the local Monkmead woods, hearing the owls (tawny & barn), the drumming woodpeckers and the springtime dawn chorus. The woods at Wiggonholt come alive in the summer evenings with the churring of the nightjars and the buzzing field crickets, and in the autumn the trees are clothed in gold. Pallingham Quay, is a great place to spot kingfishers dipping into the River Arun and when the nearby woods are swathed in spring flowers, the place never fails to uplift my spirits. On clear frosty day, Kithurst or Bignor hill makes the perfect location for a bracing winter walk, with their fabulous views over the surrounding area, birds of prey and if you are lucky, the charismatic hare. However, my favourite view is from my kitchen window, overlooking our garden, flower meadow, the surrounding woods and the distant South Downs. I often remind myself how lucky I am!

Since joining the Regional Group, I have been to numerous places for guided walks, that I was previously unaware of, we have such an abundance of wildlife-rich sites in our local area. It has also been a privilege to meet so many wildlife experts who have been willing to give up their free time to teach us about multiple different aspects of nature (e.g. wildflowers, insects, birds, bats, lichens, woodlands etc.). Their astonishing passion and willingness to teach our members helps create such a vibrant group.

Being chair of the group’s committee has been somewhat challenging, and I’ve needed to acquire multiple new skills – including people-management, IT skills, and particularly time efficiency! A good chunk of my time is taken up with my work as a veterinary surgeon - so it can be a struggle to get everything for the group completed. However, the rewards have been innumerable, and the friendships treasured.

The Storrington and Arun Valley Regional Group is free for any Trust members, who would like to participate in our events and aid our group projects (Swifts & House Martins, Bats, Churchyards and Green Spaces for Nature) in our area. These projects require dedication and commitment from all those involved. The small scale of their immediate apparent benefits can be a little frustrating at times; however, the overall value of these projects is immense. They help shape attitudes to nature in a positive way by raising awareness and understanding of important issues such as preserving biodiversity, as well as the sheer joy of getting outside and getting involved.

We aim to be an inclusive group and, as such we welcome those who are quite unfamiliar with wildlife, or may have mobility issues, not just those who are experienced and/or super fit. We have an emphasis on the importance of social interaction between members, and our birdwatching coffee mornings held in a local pub garden have proved to be one of our most popular events.

Our group is run entirely by volunteers, who do everything from organising events and doing admin, to running the projects. We always welcome new volunteers and every offer of help, in whatever capacity, is greatly appreciated.

Find out more here 

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