THIS MONTH:

• Picture perfect Find out the winners of our popular photo competition “Nature Makes Me Happy” and have your own say on which photograph should be crowned the People’s Choice winner.
• Comforting contentment Beat the January blues and find out how the South Downs National Park can give you a much-needed boost during the cold months.
• Community Find out about the £1.5m of funding to improve infrastructure and help people have access to green spaces.
• Reminiscing those summer days Listen to a new atmospheric podcast by Writer in Residence Alinah Azadeh.

Awe-inspiring photography shines bright in competition

Dramatic scenes of a winter wonderland, a bird of prey in full flight and a singing Robin Red Breast are among the winners of the South Downs National Park’s annual photography competition.

Read the full story and find out about the other winners here.

Deadline approaches on Call for Nature Sites

The clock is counting down to the deadline on our call-out for new nature sites.

The appeal launched during the autumn and invites farmers, land managers, communities and conservation groups across the National Park to put forward possible sites where new wildlife habitat could be created.

Find out more and download an application form

Remembering those warm summer days

The uplifting power of the coastal South Downs amid uncertain times is explored in an illuminating new podcast.

“On The Same Edge” is the second podcast from Alinah Azadeh, the Writer In Residence for Seven Sisters Country Park and the Sussex Heritage Coast.

Listen to Alinah's new podcast

Boost of £1.5m for communities

New walking routes for families and people with disabilities, cycle hubs, play facilities, and a refurbished pavilion are among the projects to benefit from a major funding boost from the National Park Authority.

More than £1.37m will benefit almost 30 community schemes across Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. As well as the £1.37m, 22 parish or town councils across the National Park will be taking a share of just over £256,000 to support grassroots projects in their area.

Learn more here.

Explore our amazing Dark Skies!

Exploring the starry night sky of the South Downs and discovering its wonders for yourself will be the theme of this year’s Dark Skies Festival.

A bumper line-up of virtual and hopefully, in-person, events are being planned for the festival, which takes place across school half-term holidays from 11 February to 27 February. Find out more.

Five tips to beating those January blues

With the merriment of the festive season fading into the memory bank, January can feel like a long, taxing and sometimes depressing month.

The great outdoors of the National Park, with its wondrous landscape and winter wildlife, can provide such an uplifting boost – and you may not even realise the power of good it’s done for you until the end of your ramble, heart pumping and lungs full of fresh air!

Kate Drake, Health and Wellbeing Officer, shares five easy ways to feel good this winter.

Discover Kate's tips for beating the January blues