About Whitchurch Conservation Group

Whitchurch Conservation Group is a constituted voluntary community group based in Whitchurch, Hampshire.

We were established in October 2020, initially to garner public engagement for the Basingstoke and Deane Council Issue and Options Planning Consultation. From that early start, we then created a constitution and a clear set of aims. As of September 2026, we have over 850 local Whitchurch resident members.

We are a non-political group, encompassing a broad range of opinion, united in the common goal of seeking to nurture Whitchurch’s green spaces and River Test Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) natural heritage. We work alongside the local community to strengthen and enhance Whitchurch’s status as an economically, culturally and socially vibrant town with a strong rural and heritage tourism identity. We aim to improve access and participation to high quality arts and culture, especially for families with young children.

You can find out more about our aims, constitution, activities and grant wins on this website.

We are active members of the CPRE, N Wessex Downs Landscape Forum, and Wessex Rivers Trust.

You can read more in detail about our activities by clicking onto the ‘activities’ tab above, where we have a detailed page on each. A bulletpoint précis is below:

Heritage

• winning funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) to deliver the Whitchurch School Heritage Programme in 2027, which will give around 700 Year 1 and 2 pupils the opportunity to discover the River Test and Whitchurch Silk Mill.
• delivering a 2-year long Whitchurch Town Regeneration Project funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Rural England Prosperity Fund to improve signage and enhance the heritage setting of the Town Centre Conservation Area : see highlights video here
• funding a Whitchurch rural tourism project: a new River Test bridge, Mill Trail interpretation boards, cast iron fingerposts and Mill Trail marketing materials (Test & Loddon grant programme) : see Mill Trail video here
• improving North Wessex Downs access by funding cast iron fingerposts in north Whitchurch (North Wessex Downs AONB Access for All grant)

Arts and Culture

• holding Whitchurch Children’s Festival, our award-winning Arts Council England funded family arts festival, every two years. Its aim is to connect children to nature, and to engage and deepen their emotional connection to the natural beauty of Whitchurch’s setting in Hampshire – the River Test, The Mill Trail and the North Wessex Downs – through engaging them in creative responses to the landscape. The festival won ‘Best Family Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards 2023 and the 2025 festival attracted 2,300 attendees: see highlights video here.
• holding Whitchurch Open Air Theatre in the riverside Fulling Mill Meadow every two years. This is a family theatre event held every two years, with shows by professional theatre groups and rural touring companies.The 2026 event welcomed 600 attendees over 3 days of performances: see highlights video here 
• expanding our outdoor theatre bench seating infrastructure so that we can accommodate approximately 120 attendees per performance – funded through the National Highways Community Legacy Fund
  

Conservation

• coordinating corporate volunteering days to tackle invasive Himalayan Balsam on Whitchurch watermeadows, often in collaboration with Wessex Rivers Trust and the Wild Trout Trust
• raising awareness of the importance of the River Test aquifer through commissioned independent scientific research and campaigning to improve River Test water quality (funded through a National Lottery Heritage Fund NLHF Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Watercress & Winterbournes grant)

Community

• writing grant applications for the RHS gold-award winning Whitchurch in Bloom team – funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Rural England Prosperity Fund
• funding treeplanting at Whitchurch Recreation Ground, Millennium Meadow and Kingsley Park (funded by the UK Government Treescapes Fund)

Please consider joining us; we collect and administer all personal data in line with GDPR and are registered with the ICO.

Please do get in touch if you would like to volunteer with us. We are extremely grateful for any volunteer stewarding support you might be able to offer for our arts and culture events, also for our corporate volunteering days.

Whitchurch Conservation Group

Lucie Follett Maitland

Richard Maitland

Dr Maria Power

Disclaimer: Please kindly note that we are not connected to, or affiliated with Whitchurch Action Group. We are an independent group.