300,000 children to plant trees
This autumn up to 300,000 young people from across the country are being provided with free tree saplings to plant in their schools grounds and community spaces.
The UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, the Woodland Trust, and Sainsbury’s Active Kids have supplied 10,000 hedge and copse packs, which each contain 30 saplings.
Since the launch of the hedge and copse scheme in 2004 children in the UK have reinstated 194 miles of hedgerows – the distance from London to Leeds.
Paul Bunton, community project manger, said: “The Trust’s hedge and copse packs have proved a huge success with schools and youth groups from day one and this year, thanks to Sainsbury’s, we have been oversubscribed with applications from them.
“They are the perfect way for young people to learn about the local environment and how they can support and nurture it from an early age – and continue to do so for the rest of their lives. The packs are also supported by free online planting guides and curriculum linked resources.”
The free packs contain either thirty native hedge trees including; hawthorn, hazel, holly, dogrose and dogwood, or thirty native copse trees including; birch, rowan and wild cherry.
Victoria Redfern, Sainsbury’s Active Kids manager added: “Active Kids aims to get Britain’s children more active and by working with the Woodland Trust we hope to show the fun children can have by going outdoors and getting their hands dirty! This is a real opportunity to learn about the environment and hopefully it will encourage kids to try out some gardening as part of a healthy lifestyle.”
Sainsbury’s raises money for the Woodland Trust through its range of Woodland free range eggs and chicken – with 1p per dozen eggs and 2p per chicken going to the charity. On top of this Sainsbury’s has planted over 400,000 trees on its Woodland farms, leading to happier, healthier hens.
The annual hedge and copse pack scheme is part of the Trust’s Tree for All project, which is the biggest children’s tree planting initiative in the UK. It has so far enabled thousands of schools and youth groups across the country to get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty planting trees in their own school grounds or community spaces.
So far the campaign has planted over seven million trees across the UK involving more than 1.8 million people, equivalent to almost double the population of Birmingham. Approximately 50,000 hedge and copse packs have been sent to schools and community groups and 150 major partners have been involved. Over 9,300 hectares (23,000 acres) of new woodland has been created so far, equivalent of almost 13,000 football pitches.
The Tree for All campaign has a target to plant one tree for every child under 16 in the UK, which equates to some 12 million trees, so there’s still ample opportunity to get involved and help create new native woodland. Schools and youth groups can find out how they can get involved in Tree for All this autumn by visiting http://www.treeforall.org.uk/JoinIn/
People can further apply for a free tree and/or seeds pack for delivery in March 2010 by visiting http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/hedge/.