Those of you who are familiar with my blog and follow me on Instagram will know I am a massive advocate for teaching children about the environment so when my daughter’s school sent a message out on the school app asking for volunteers to dig holes for sixty trees that needed to be planted, I replied almost instantly.
Ashford St Mary’s Church of England Primary school had been offered sixty Coppice Hedgerow trees to plant in the school field and were expected to be delivery by 18th March.
To ensure the trees could be planted straight into the ground on arrival, the volunteers’ mission was to dig sixty holes at the edge of the school field along the fence.
Led my Jenny Thorpe, we all assembled by the school field and started digging holes in the ground. All of the children who participated were being supervised by their grown-up and everyone else were digging, every so often, pausing to move wriggly worms to safety before carrying on.
Although it was a sunny afternoon, there was a cold wind but that didn’t deter the volunteers. It wasn’t long before our mission was complete, and the area was taped off.
The trees were donated by the Woodland Trust who have a fabulous scheme offering free trees for schools and communities “We want to make sure everybody in the UK has the chance to plant a tree. So, we’re giving away hundreds of thousands of trees to schools and communities. Together, we’ll get millions more trees in the ground.”
The school previously received five trees from The Tree Council, which had already been planted on the school grounds – two apple trees, two pear trees and a plum tree.
The Tree Council have a National Schools Programme: Orchards for Schools and Young Tree Champions with a map on their website showing all the schools who have taken part so far – “Thanks to over 800 incredible schools, this planting season we have planted over 30,000 fruit trees and fruiting hedgerow whips. We are working together to create a healthier future for young people and the planet by unlocking the power of trees. Thank you to each and every school – you are a Force For Nature.”
Projects like this is a fabulous way to encourage young people to reconnect with nature and each other. It’s also great way for them to learn about why trees are important and why we need to do what we can to protect our environment – after all, they are inheriting the planet from us.
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