Scouts, student and communities across the UK get muddy for the environment
Students and scouts across the UK will be teaming up with the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity,to plant thousands trees across the UK this autumn.
The scouts tree planting activities are being funded by The Veolia Environmental Trust, which awarded the Woodland Trust a £200,000 grant through the Landfill Communities Fund. The grant is funding 40 planting events across the UK, with the aim of leaving an environmental legacy and giving young people the chance to develop new skills.
Chris Foster of the Scouts Association comments: “We are really looking forward to planting the trees across the UK to help mark the movement’s centenary and help make a real difference to our local environment. ‘Scouts For Trees’ is vital in enabling Scouts in this country to have the chance to enjoy the great outdoors. This was a crucial part of Scouting 100 years ago and it will continue to be so as it remains second nature to our members.’
Executive director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Margaret Cobbold, says: “The Trust is proud to be supporting such an important and special project. It is an excellent example of how Landfill Communities Fund can help young volunteers create a greener Britain and learn new skills in the process.”
The scouts for trees partnership is part of the Woodland Trust’s ‘Tree For All’ campaign, the biggest ever children’s tree planting operation, which aims to involve one million children in planting twelve million trees across the UK – the equivalent to one tree for every child under the age of sixteen. Already over 4 million trees have been planted as part of Tree For All.
Liz McLelland of the Woodland Trust says: “Tree For All’ is a call to action in a time when the protection and planting of new woodland is becoming increasingly important as our natural world comes under siege. ‘Scouts For Trees’ is a great opportunity to get involved with a UK wide organisation to help us reach out to more and more young people. With the help of the Scout Association we aim to plant at least 100 Centenary Groves – these will be new areas of native woodland, each made up of thousands of trees.”
The ‘Tree For All’ campaign has involved over 680,000 people, the majority being school children, and has planted over 4 million trees across the UK, that’s enough people to fill the Albert Hall over 120 times. In all, approximately 15000 schools, 624 community groups and 100 major partners have been involved so far. In all since the campaign began over 2,020 hectares (5000 acres) of new woodland has been created.
The schools and community planting events have been made possible by kind funding from SITA Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
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For more information contact the Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121 or email: media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Notes to Editor:
The Veolia Environmental Trust has been supporting community and environmental projects for ten years. To celebrate this achievement, it has initiated three special funding projects with three of the UK’s leading conservation and improvement organisations – the Woodland Trust, The BTCV, formerly the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, and the Wildlife Trust.
Under the Landfill Communities Fund, registered landfill site operators can donate a percentage of their landfill tax liability in return for a tax credit. This credit is available to environmental bodies to fund mainly environmental, community and restoration projects. Landfill operators are currently permitted to donate up to 6.6% of their landfill tax liability.
Since the Trust was established in 1997, Veolia Environmental Services (UK) plc has supported it by contributions in excess of £33 million for more than 700 projects.
These grants have been used for a diverse range of projects, including the repair of woodland footpaths, the restoration of historic churches, the installation of playgrounds and play areas, assisting the preservation of vital green-spaces, and the building of new community centres and the enhancement of those already in place.
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. The Woodland Trust protects and creates woodland. Established in 1972, it has 300,000 members and supporters and owns more than 1,100 woods which are open for the public to enjoy.
Access to its sites are free. Further news can be found at www.woodland-trust.org.uk
Scouts for trees, will give every Scout the chance to plant trees during the Centenary Year. One hundred woods will be planted at key sites across the UK. Scouts for Trees is part of the Woodland Trust’s ‘Trees for All’ campaign, the biggest ever children’s tree planting campaign, which aims to involve one million children in planting twelve million trees across the UK – the equivalent to one tree for every child under the age of sixteen. Already over 3.5 million trees have been planted as part of Trees for All.
Scouting
Founded in 1907, the Scouting movement now involves girls and boys, men and women from every race, religion and culture, and nearly every country in the world.
The worldwide Centenary of Scouting is an opportunity to promote the values, benefits and achievements of the organisation to the world, and also for the millions of Scouts around the world to make a real difference to the lives of others through their centenary activities.
The single theme for all events and activities for the Centenary of Scouting
