Walberton nursery owner nominated for award for helping to enrich Sussex countryside

The owner of a Walberton flower nursery is in the running for an award which celebrates people who have made a significant contribution to the enrichment of the Sussex countryside.
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CPRE Sussex, the countryside charity, has announced Ben Cross, owner of Crosslands Flower Nursery, is one of the nominees for its new Empowering Communities Award.

During lockdown many of Ben’s customers stopped trading, leaving him with thousands of unsold flowers – so he teamed up with a supermarket to donate them to frontline NHS workers.

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Ben also developed a letterbox delivery service in partnership with Beachtown Blooms in Littlehampton.

Ben CrossBen Cross
Ben Cross

CPRE Sussex’s Countryside Awards celebrate the work of some of the historic county’s most inspiring and dedicated countryside heroes.

Kia Trainor, CPRE Sussex director, said: “This award is about celebrating the individuals who have dedicated their lives to the enrichment and enhancement of the Sussex countryside.

“We are now asking the public to help us find a winner for our new Empowering Communities Award by voting for their favourite countryside champion on our website.”

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More than 90 per cent of the UK’s cut flowers are shipped in from overseas, at considerable cost to the environment, and Crosslands is one of the last nurseries in Sussex to buck this trend – supplying florists and wholesalers nationwide with millions of its British alstroemeria, also known as the Peruvian lily, stems every year.

Ben is keen to pass his passion for flowers on to the next generation.

He is part of in an initiative which pairs farmers with junior schools, has set up apprenticeship schemes for horticultural students, and has created videos for schools to use in the lockdown learning initiative.

The greenhouses at Crosslands are heated by a sustainable biomass boiler which Ben installed in 2013, while all his flowers are grown using biological controls for pests and insects, and sold in recyclable and re-usable packaging.

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The other nominees are Phil Belden, the man behind the South Downs Rangers Service and the Brighton Urban Wildlife Group, and Isabella Tree, Knepp Castle’s environmental pioneer, bestselling author and a passionate advocate for rewilding the countryside.

For more information and to cast your vote, visit www.cpresussex.org.uk/news/empowering-communities-award/

Voting closes on August 31.

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