Stolen saplings are replaced
DOZENS of newly-planted trees have been stolen from the grounds of a school.
About 50 saplings were taken from Castleton primary in a theft described by staff as ‘very strange.’
They were among 250 young willow and hawthorn trees donated by charity City of Trees to create a ‘forest school’ on the school fields off Hillcrest Road.
Teaching assistant Kath Day, who runs the forest school, discovered the theft just days after the trees had been planted.
She said: “50 trees have just magically disappeared. It’s very strange. Because so many trees have gone from a perfect section the only thing we can put it down to is theft.
“The children are very, very disappointed, but sadly this is a fairly frequent occurrence for us.
“We put some benches up and within a fortnight they had been graffitied.
“It’s not nice, but the children have become used to it sadly. It’s a very sad state of affairs, but it only takes a small minority to spoil it for everyone.
“But since the theft I’ve had three parents ringing me up to offer to help and City of Trees have replaced the stolen saplings.”
Emily Bannister, one of the parents to contact Mrs Day, now hopes to raise £3,000 to put up a fence around the forest.
She launched an appeal on Justgiving and in a post on the crowdfunding website Ms Bannister she was ‘absolutely appalled’ by the theft.
She wrote: “I really want to do something that can help so I have set this up (with the permission of the school) in order to raise enough funds to build a secure fence around the area they would like to use.
“Schools are having their funds slashed left, right and centre so it’s up to us to help ensure our children get a safe outside environment in which to learn about nature and the importance of taking care of it.
“Obviously this is a vast amount of money we’re asking for, but if even just a small amount of Castleton residents donated £1 each we could smash this target.
“If we don’t hit the target then the funds will still be used for improving the forest school in other ways.”
To donate to the appeal visit justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/castletonforestschool.