Back in April 2026, Margate Pride was awarded National Lottery Awards for All - Environment grant for our Queer Nature project. As this part of the project and its funding draws to a close, we wanted to fill you in on what we’ve been up to and hear from some of the people involved in making it happen.
Since April, we have been developing the Cliftonville Art Garden on a site gifted by local company, Müll Club. We have been working to turn an old fly-tipping site into a cleaner, usable space. We have also been delivering workshops and drop-in sessions in the garden, such as cyanotype, vegetable printing and creative writing.
Cliftonville Art Garden is headed up by Dandy.
“Cliftonville Art Garden is a new arts-led green space focusing on art, ecology, and experimentation. Once a car park and fly-tipping hotspot, the site provided by Müll, is slowly being transformed into a new home for local wildlife and queer folk. The aim of the project is to create a third space that focuses less on nightlife, substance use and extraction, and more on creativity, collaboration and easeful connection, where nature takes the lead.
The project has allowed us to work with many people across the community, who are also creating these tiny localised pockets of hope that feel quite utopian. And so The Local Utopias project was born, with the aim to explore and amplify the ways people create these pockets of joy, connection and resilience locally, both artistically and ecologically, and to archive the ways people are mobilising within their communities. It's a small, creative celebration of the ways people care for themselves and each other.”
Dandy She/Her
Lead Gardener / Practitioner
Alongside the garden workshops, Amy Redmond has been curating a series of events, workshops and talks, bringing the community together over a shared love of all things green.
“I’m proud to be curating our Nature workshops and events. There are so many fantastic, talented folks in this town, as well as spaces to explore and discover in nature. Events so far include a Castles, Caves and Cliffs walk with Tony from Thanet Coast Project, an open day at the Cliftonville Art Garden, a Queer Animals and Natural History talk with Fenja Schultz, and multiple Sea Swim + Writing Workshops at Flints, Newgate Gap. It's a fantastic time to be a nature-loving queer in Thanet!”
Amy Redmond She/Her
Margate Pride co-founder
Part of that programming included two Queer Ecology Walks / Wheels with ‘Wild Queers’, headed up by long-term friend and facilitator for Margate Pride, Phoebe Apollo.
“WILD QUEERS is an evolving series of workshops inviting queer people to take up space together in nature, centring care, accessibility, rest and joy.
Over the last 2 years during Pride month, we curated a series of guided outdoor sessions in Thanet's clifftop meadows, hidden woodlands, and urban parks celebrating queer ecology, nature connection, and community care. The small-group gatherings focus on accessible, slow-paced exploration rather than covering distance, featuring habitat discussions, plant and animal identification, nature readings, and more recently, gentle somatic practices with Kahra Wayland-Larty to help us embody a decolonised queer utopia.
Designed taking inspiration from queer ecology and disability justice, the sessions have deliberate accessibility features like frequent rest breaks, flexible routes, seating options, and mobility-aid tested routes, and are ever evolving. Nature is for everybody.“
Phoebe is also heading up the Margate Pride Memorial Grove.
“We are partnering with the local council to plant a 10-tree memorial grove in Dane Park, marking our 10-year anniversary by dedicating trees to the queers we have loved and lost and to our community's future resilience. We're aiming to create a little haven in the park - an inclusive, biodiverse grove of trees which will be shady and cool to sit under, will provide an abundance of blossom, fruit and pollen for wildlife and humans, and will create a sheltered spot for community gatherings and nature workshops.”
Phoebe Apollo She/They
Tree & Biodiversity Coordinator, TDC, and Community Fundraiser
The programming this year has been incredibly exciting for us and it’s been fantastic to see so many of you attend the gardening days and events. It’s something that Director of Margate Pride, Mia Pollak has been keen to do for a long time.
“Margate Pride has always prioritised nature, trying to ensure we have as little an impact on the environment as possible. In more recent years, we have actively programmed events and promoted sustainability, and worked with other organisations who have expertise in this field.
This year, being awarded a grant from National Lottery Awards for All's environment strand has enabled us to support the creation of the Cliftonville Art Garden and deliver other nature-focussed activities. Partnering with incredible organisations that includes Thanet Coastal Project, Turner, Windmill Community Gardens, and Rise Up Clean Up means we can play an important role championing our local environment and create ways for the community to enjoy and care for it.
With our newly established CIO charity status, we have 'Nature' on the board of Trustees who will play an important role in the future of Margate Pride's work in this field. We hope you'll get involved.”
Mia Pollak She/Her
Director of Margate Pride
Yes, you’ve read that correctly, we are VERY excited to share that ‘Nature’ is now on the board as one of our Margate Pride's Trustees. Representing Nature, is Sam Woodman.
“Nature is us and we are Nature! Full of diversity, queer identities and cultures, and wonderful weirdness, it makes complete sense to bring Nature into the heart of Margate Pride, and that's what we've done by appointing Nature to join Margate Pride's Board of Trustees.
This will ensure that Nature's perspective is baked into everything we do at Margate Pride, and will bolster the incredible work being championed by the team through all the Nature programming, the Cliftonville Art Garden, and the long-standing commitment to sustainable practices like having a no-float parade at the annual Pride march.
This bold move makes Margate Pride the first charity in the world to do such a thing, and we can't wait to explore this chapter with our community, asking ourselves what new perspectives we can discover with our non-human counterparts.”
Sam Woodman He/Him
Nature, Margate Pride Trustee
We are legally recognising the natural world as a core stakeholder in what we do and how we operate as a charity. We will be taking the rights of Nature into account in all decision-making at Margate Pride. Nature now has a voice and a vote.
Thank you to everyone who has supported our Queer Nature project so far and thank you to the National Lottery Awards for All for granting the funding that allowed it to happen.
The work isn’t over and there’s more exciting stuff to come. So we hope you'll keep joining us and getting involved in Queer Nature.
Team MP & the dedicated Nature Working Group