Two chances to plant a tree and help save planet

Public are invited to come along and help at planting events

VOLUNTEERS are being urged to do their bit to halt the climate emergency by grabbing a spade and planting a tree at one of two free sessions taking place in Hinckley this December.

The first session will take place at Roston Drive public open space (at the junction of Roston Drive and Outlands Drive) in Hinckley on Wednesday 4 December.

The second session will take place at Burbage Common on Saturday 14 December. To take part in this, meet in the main car park.

Both sessions start at 10am and anyone who would like to join in and help to plant a tree is welcome to come along. Spades will be provided and wellies are recommended.

Some 250 trees supplied by the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and a further 135 trees supplied by the Woodland

Trust are set to be planted by volunteers during the two sessions.

The borough council’s green spaces team will be planting 550 trees throughout the borough’s public spaces this winter.

The public planting sessions have been organised in support of the Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback campaign which aims to plant trees in publicly accessible areas. The charity wants to get more than a million people to pledge to plant a tree this year and by 2025, it hopes to have planted a tree for every person in the country.

Head of Street Scene Services at the borough council, Caroline Roffey explained: “Planting trees has enormous benefits for future generations.

“They are important habitats for wildlife and they also mitigate the impacts of climate change by providing shade and absorbing carbon acting as they lungs of our planet.

“Spending an hour tree planting is not only good fun but it is an investment in our future.”

Everyone is welcome to get involved by coming along to a tree planting session or even arranging their own. Earlier this month council officers helped pupils from Battling Brook School to plant 120 trees in Wykin Park after member of the public, Peter Rushton, requested the trees from the Woodland Trust and worked with the council to plant them in a public place.

The Woodland Trust provides free tree packs for community groups and schools who would like to get involved. All of the trees provided by the charity will be native broadleaf varieties, such as oak, birch and hawthorn. Please see the Woodland Trust’s website www.woodlandtrust. org.uk for more details.