Councillor Joe Porter

DURING the height of the pandemic, we saw the very best of community spirit being harnessed across the Staffordshire Moorlands and the wider country to get people through one of the darkest periods in our history.

I want to see this continue into the future and to be spread into other issues such as the environment.

The belief in leaving our environment in a better state than we found it is one that unites our communities.

That’s why I came up with the idea of planting community orchards across the Staffordshire Moorlands to bring communities together to take pride in their local green spaces, help fight climate change and improve people’s health and wellbeing.

Over the last year we’ve planted a grand total of 22 community orchards in every corner of the District, as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy scheme and our local Nature Recovery Network.

We’ve planted them in Leek, Biddulph and Cheadle and across our rural villages to ensure everyone gets the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

All the fruit and nut trees have been sourced locally to reduce carbon footprint.

Parish and town councils and community groups have been able to submit their site ideas for the orchards.

Too often children don’t get the opportunity to learn about where their food comes from, and this is a crucial opportunity to change that.

The best way to teach children about food is through discovery.

And the best way to discover food is to get every child growing and cooking food.

This is why one of the highlights of the scheme has been planting some of the orchards with local Scout groups, schools and young people.

By planting trees in their communities, they were able to directly make a difference to leaving our environment in a better state than we found it.

After planting the trees, the children will be able to keep them watered, pick the fruit and then prune them and see the whole cycle of life first-hand.

As a young adult who was part of the scouting movement, I know how important connecting with nature is for every child’s life.

Natural England published a report which found 10 per cent of children play in woodlands, countryside and heaths, when compared with 40 per cent of children 30–40 years ago.

As a council, we will prioritise working with even more schools and youth groups in the next tree planting season and through our upcoming Climate Change Community Fund.

I’ve enjoyed getting out into communities to lead the tree planting sessions and hope we do even more from November.