Free trees available for Lancashire schools and community groups after Woodland Trust scheme reopens

Schools and community groups across Lancashire can once again take advantage of the Woodland Trust's free trees initiative, as applications for spring 2023 are now open.
By Aimee Seddon
Published 13th Sep 2022, 04:55 BST
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The Woodland Trust has ambitious plans to break its record annual giveaway of more than 1.3 million free trees as the next round of tree-pack applications opens.

Almost 9,000 schools and community groups benefited from the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity’s ever-popular scheme in 2022, and they hope even more will take up the offer of free saplings and get planting in the coming year.

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Woodland Trust senior project lead Vicki Baddeley said: “This year our communities have really felt the impact of climate change first hand, and many are seeing the incredible benefits trees can bring to provide much needed shade, shelter, and help to prevent flooding.

Eco-friendly pupils at RAF Benson Primary School in Oxfordshire, one of the thousand schools who took part in the initative last year.Eco-friendly pupils at RAF Benson Primary School in Oxfordshire, one of the thousand schools who took part in the initative last year.
Eco-friendly pupils at RAF Benson Primary School in Oxfordshire, one of the thousand schools who took part in the initative last year.

“By offering the free packs we aim to equip our schools and communities with a simple yet mighty tool to combat the effects of climate change, as well as provide ever more vital food and habitats for local wildlife.”

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The figures for 2022 are the Trust’s best yet, surpassing the previous best total of more than 1.1 million in 2021.

The Woodland Trust’s free tree packs scheme has seen trees sent far and wide this year, with the spring giveaway alone delivering a total 623,910 saplings to 3865 organisations across the UK.

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The tree packs have been funded by lead partners Sainsbury's, Lloyds Bank, Ovo Energy, DFS, Joules, Bank of Scotland and Sofology.

Baddeley added: “We couldn't do this without the support and generosity of our funders. We have great backing and our thanks go out to each of them for their vital support.

“The desire to plant trees is growing all the time and we expect demand for our free trees to be even greater this time out.

“There will be 600,000 saplings up for grabs in the spring round of applications and I have no doubt they will go quickly so I would advise any interested groups to apply sooner rather than later to secure their saplings!

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“Giving away 1.3m in 2022 will be a huge achievement, but I am confident we can do even better in 2023 and deliver every one of the 1.4m saplings available.”

To apply, visit: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/freetrees.

Related topics:Woodland TrustSchoolsLancashireJoules