Local charities, business, schools, veterans and volunteers have come together to plant 3,300 trees at Baysgarth School, giving the North Lincolnshire Northern Forest tree register a massive boost.
The Plant a Tree Today Foundation (PATT) was approached by Baysgarth School following a project they carried out in Winterton last year involving 650 trees.
Phillips 66 Humber Refinery provided £9,000 funding to enable the project to go ahead, and helped with resources – including providing dozens of pairs of gloves.
PATT mobilised their Green Task Force of veterans to carry out the planting. Young people and other volunteers also helped with the planting and handed out hot refreshments on the day.
Richard Briggs, headteacher at Baysgarth School, said he would recommend the partnership between PATT and local business to any school looking to improve their area.
“Some of our students and staff had the opportunity to assist in this venture and thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said. “We also had a tutor provided for us who explained which species were being planted, how to plant them and the benefit of each plant.
“Our wonderful school site has definitely been made even better and it will be interesting to see how these plants mature and blend into the vista of the school.”
Rob Waltham, Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “This is exactly the sort of project we are looking to get behind as part of our Northern Forest ambitions.
“I want to thank everyone involved for making this happen, and would urge others to get involved in planting trees across North Lincolnshire. Not only does it benefit the environment right now, but it is a fantastic legacy for our children.”
Nina Stobart, of Phillips 66, commented: “We were proud to be able to support such a wonderful project with the £9,000 donation, not only with its great environmental benefits, but also as a holder of the armed forces covenant supporting veteran’s mental health.”
Andrew Steel, who set up PATT 15 years ago and has planted three million trees across seven countries, said: “The project went ahead with the support of the team at Phillips 66 who have been supportive throughout and it is greatly appreciated.
“It was great to get our veterans out in the community and working on a worthwhile cause creating a pathway to employment in combination with improving mental health and wellbeing.”
The 3,300 trees included a variety of species, such as oak, rowan, hornbeam, yew, crab apple, field maple and hawthorn.
The Northern Forest is the Government’s 25-year plan to plant 50 million trees across the North of England.
As part of the vision, the Council has committed to seeing 172,000 trees planted in North Lincolnshire – one for every person in the county.
We are asking everyone, from gardeners to community groups and local councils, to tell us when they plant a tree by filling in this form on our website.
The trees will go on our register and we will issue regular updates as we get nearer our 172,000 total.
