5 March 2007
Scouts plant trees for a greener future in Barry
New partnership with Woodland Trust to mark centenary
Around 150 Scouts from 14 local groups (1) teamed up with the Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity last weekend, to plant trees as part of the Trust’s work creating 15 ha (37 acres) of new native woodland at Porthkerry Country Park at Barry.
The planting event was part of a partnership with the Woodland Trust to mark the Scout Association’s centenary year, the ‘Scouts For Trees’ partnership. The aim is ensure that each of the 400,000 Scouts in the UK could have the chance to plant a tree to mark the Centenary of Scouting in 2007. The initiative also provides Scouts and young people with the opportunity to learn about and engage in, woodland conservation.
The joint venture 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 3.5 million trees have been planted as part of Tree For All, 45,100 of them in Wales.
Among the groups taking part in the planting was the 1st Barry Beaver Scouts, aged 6-8.
Before the event, Michelle Phillips, who leads the Beaver colony, said: “The boys are very excited. None of them has ever done anything like this before. They love the concept that the trees they plant will actually be around for longer than they will. They’re excited that it’s happening on their doorstep and that they’ll be able to go back in future and see how their own trees are coming on.”
Porthkerry Country park covers 105 hectares on the edge of Barry. It attracts some 50,000 people per year. It contains a mixture of open land and ancient woodland. The Vale or Glamorgan Council, who own the site, have embarked upon a project with the Woodland trust to improve the site by creating 15 ha (37 acres) of new native woodland
So as to maximise the gains for wildlife, the trees planted are all native broadleaves: ash, oak, field maple, alder, hazel, hawthorn, cherry, birch, rowan, small leaved lime, holly, crab apple, yew, guelder rose, wayfaring tree, spindle and elder.
To make sure that every school and youth group has the chance to get involved in the Tree For All campaign, the Woodland Trust is offering them a free pack of 30 trees for planting a small length of hedge or a copse. Schools groups and youth groups wishing to take up this offer should log on to: www.woodland-trust.org.uk/hedge and fill in the online form. The packs come with guidance on how to plant and maintain the trees, plus bilingual curriculum linked activities.
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563 or 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
Or Meriel Robson of the Woodland Trust on 07771 764 813
Or The Woodland Trust Press Office email media@woodland-trust.org.uk or Tel 01476 581121
Notes for editors
1. The Scout groups taking part were: 1st Radyr Scout Group; 25th Cardiff St Andrews; 25th Cardiff Beavers; 29th Cardiff Kestrel Cub Pack; 1st Penmark with Porthkerry; 77th Cardiff; 1st West Pontnewydd; 1st Trealaw; 1st Llantwit Major; 1st Llwyn Celyn; 1st Barry Beaver Scouts; 29th cardiff Birch Beavers; 19th Cardiff Cub Pack; 3rd Rhiwbina
The Scout Association
For information about “Scouts for Trees” activities visit www.treeforall.org.uk/scouts or www.scouts.org.uk/2007
There are opportunities for people to support The Scout Association by becoming volunteers. For more information visit www.scouts.org.uk
For further information about the Scout Association and the Centenary celebrations
Please contact the Scout Association Press Office at www.scouts.org.uk
Centenary of Scouting
• 2007 marks a hundred years of scouting, and will see nearly 500,000 young people in the UK joining in the Centenary celebrations. Events will run throughout the year at local, regional, national and international level. A key element of the celebrations will be 40,000 Scouts from over 200 countries meeting at the World Scout Jamboree in Essex on the 1st August.
• Across the world, 2007 is likely to be the largest ever example of youth cooperation and one of the biggest global celebrations since the turn of the Millennium. The Centenary will signal a new age in Scouting, and will provide an opportunity to reflect on how the movement was founded, what is has achieved, but also where it is going.
About Scouting
• Adventure is at the core of Scouting. The Scout Association passionately believes in helping their members fulfil their full physical, intellectual social and spiritual potentials by working in teams, learning by doing and thinking for themselves. The Centenary year will provide even more opportunities for members to do this, and to continue to take risks in a safe environment, and have their first taste of responsibility.
• Over 200 activities are offered by Scouting around the UK, made possible by the efforts of 100,000 voluntary adult leaders. This has helped make Scouting the largest co-educational youth Movement in the country.
• Scouting is the largest co-educational youth Movement in the UK
• Adults working in Scouting contribute in excess of 364 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities.
• The number of volunteers working for Scouting is bigger than the combined workforces of the BBC (24,000) and McDonalds (67,000) put together.
• Worldwide Scouting has 28 million Members both male and female and operates in nearly every country in the world.
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.coed-cadw.org.uk The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.
