Penny Lane Tree Planting
At the beginning of the year, we started on an ambitious project of planting 7,500 trees throughout Stockport to celebrate our 75th anniversary.
We collaborated with Stockport Council and City of Trees to develop a plan that would provide the greatest long-term benefit for Stockport. After numerous meetings and proposed ideas, the largest area we focused on was at Penny Lane. Formerly a series of neglected fields, our aim was to transform it into a new woodland area by planting 6,000 trees throughout March. With City of Trees kindly donating the trees, mats and pegs, all other costs were absorbed by our own Social Value Funds. The trees were chosen by City of Trees, based on their suitability to the area. They would also create a nature corridor, connecting the Penny Lane woodlands to the Reddish Vale Country Park, making it easier for wildlife to make new habitats, leading to a more diverse and beneficial ecosystem.
Our groundworks team, made up of several local apprentices, began work on the site a couple of weeks early to prepare the land and make it suitable for tree planting. This alone was hard work, requiring machines to cut through the overgrown brambles, in addition to the hours of litter picking. By the beginning of March, the area was transformed and ready for some trees.
Our vision was to make this a big community project, so throughout the month we hosted a number of ‘tree planting days’ so everyone from the local area could get involved. This included a ‘residents only day’, where we invited all who live on Penny Lane to come down and help out. Giving them an opportunity to help shape their own back garden.
The first community tree planting day, held on the 8th March, was open to all members of the public and was a great success. We had volunteers from all over Stockport giving a helping hand and showing wonderful support for the project. We arranged for Aston&Co to provide complimentary hot drinks and pastries to our volunteers all day, to help thank them for their hard work. In the afternoon we even had a surprise visit from Wes Brown and Rafael Gordillo as well as delegates from both Manchester United and Real Betis to help us out.
By the end of the day, there was great demand for another tree planting day, so we got to work and organised another community event for the following week.
As this project is all about looking ahead to the future, we wanted to get the next generation involved and interested in the project. We organised six tree planting sessions to accommodate over 130 pupils from St Mary’s and St Paul’s Primary School. We started off with a quick lesson on why we want to plant trees, followed by an easy-to-follow demonstration. The children were eager to get started and by the end they helped to contribute over 450 of the trees now planted in the field.
With our own team working tirelessly alongside the community, ensuring that we stayed on schedule, we successfully planted all 6,000 trees within the area before the end of the planting season.
It was a great achievement and only made possible due to the close collaboration and hard work of our dedicated team along with Stockport Council and City of Trees.
I just wanted to write on behalf of our Headteacher and the school, to thank you for two fabulous mornings of tree planting. All of the children and teachers thoroughly enjoyed getting their hands dirty, planting trees at the Penny Lane Community Woodland Tree Planting site. The area isn't too far from our school, so I am sure many of our children will watch the trees grow over many years to come.
