Community Tree Planting Grants 2018-19

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, working in partnership with The Conservation Volunteers, was awarded £4,809 to plant 546 trees in Mayesbrook Park in Dagenham.

15 local volunteers and 22 children from Manor Park Junior School helped to plant the trees, which will improve the landscape around the park's south lake.

Find out more on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham website, or watch the project video.

London Borough of Croydon was awarded £10,000 to plant 65 trees in Ashburton Park and Ashburton Playing Fields in Addiscombe.

The project helped to replace a lost 'treescape' and raise awareness of the importance of trees in the local area, and complements the ongoing programme of local street tree planting.

Trees for Cities was awarded £41,865 to plant 98 trees and 800 bulbs across the Racecourse Estate in Northolt, working in partnership with London Borough of Ealing and local residents.

The project was part of Trees for Cities' long term greening work on the estate, improving open grass verges to create green corridors and create a more welcoming environment. 605 people, including 382 children from local schools, took part in workshops and community planting days.

The best thing about planting trees is seeing people together for a great cause. Love it! Perfect Saturday!

Community planting day volunteer

London Borough of Ealing was awarded £15,872 to plant 129 trees in and around Belvue Park in Northolt.

The project has replaced overgrown scrub with more formal planting to mark the boundary of the park, introduce orchard areas, and create green corridors along neighbouring streets.

London Borough of Ealing was awarded £24,010 to plant 196 trees in and around Blondin Park in Northfields. The project has significantly increased tree cover in the park, providing a screen to the neighbouring TfL depot and creating green routes to other nearby green spaces.

50 local residents, including the Friends of Blondin Park, helped to plant the trees and will assist with maintenance.

London Borough of Ealing was awarded £6,002 to plant 49 trees in and around North Acton Playing Fields. The trees add colour and interest to the boundary of the park, and help create connections to Ealing's wider green network.

London Borough of Ealing was awarded £17,640 to plant 144 trees in and around Pitshanger Park. The project planted trees on the flank of the park facing Argyle Road, creating an arboretum to become a destination location within the park, and a new orchard area.

45 local residents, including 15 children took part in a community planting day.

Southall Transition, working in partnership with the London Borough of Ealing, was awarded £5,133 to plant 25 trees to create a community orchard in Spikes Bridge Park in Southall.

The project is the fourth phase of a community-led initiative to plant orchards and fruiting hedges in publicly accessible places throughout the neighbourhood. 98 people took part in community planting days, including children from local schools. The orchard was declared open on 9 March 2019 by the Mayor of Ealing and Virender Sharma MP.

What impresses me most about the Southall Orchard Project is that this event-organised planting of fruit trees in local parks has motivated people of many backgrounds and ages to join together in goodwill to create something which will provide long term benefit to all life

Tana D Scott, project volunteer

Find out more on the Southall Transition website.

Trees for Cities, working in partnership with the London Borough of Enfield, was awarded £17,000 to plant 3,000 trees to establish a new woodland at Montagu Recreation Ground in Edmonton.

Most of the planting took place on 2 December during London's biggest ever tree planting weekend, with almost 200 volunteers taking part. The new planting will complement flood alleviation measures at the site, and extend existing small areas of woodland. 391 participants took part in the overall project, including 179 children from local schools.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to plant trees. The staff came back buzzing with what a great experience it was and how the children loved it.

Headteacher, Fleecefield Primary School

Find out more on the Trees for Cities website.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich, working in partnership with the Friends of Queenscroft Park, was awarded £6,000 to plant 40 trees in Queenscroft Park in Eltham.

The project created a community orchard alongside a wildflower meadow, to promote community cohesion and provide fresh fruit for healthier living. 80 people helped to plant the trees through a community planting day, including students from Haimo Primary School and Eltham Hill School.

It was such a fantastic opportunity to get local children from both the local primary and secondary schools involved. We've been trying for a while to find projects that would help us engage with local children and they jumped at the chance to help us with this project, which was great to see.

Project volunteer

Friends of Avery Hill Park, working in partnership with the Royal Borough of Greenwich and other local community groups, were awarded £5,000 to plant 180 trees in Avery Hill Park and 16 trees at Well Hall Pleasaunce in Eltham,

The project has added to Avery Hill Park's formal arboretum and expanded a woodland area. 160 volunteers helped to plant the trees, including 75 children. A range of organisations were involved including local scouts and brownies groups, the Eltham Society, and Greenwich Wildlife Advisory Group.

It has been a real community effort with people of all ages and backgrounds taking part. The successive tree planting events in recent years are making a huge difference to the park and improving the overall environment for all users, which include dog walkers, joggers and families using the play equipment and café

Pat Greenwell, Eltham South ward councillor

Find out more in the SEnine community magazine.

London Borough of Hackney, working in partnership with Tree Musketeers and park user groups, was awarded £23418 to plant 110 trees across the borough. Trees were planed in Clapton Common, Clissold Park, Daubeney Fields, Hackney Downs, Hackney Marshes, Haggerston Park, London Fields, Mabley Green, Millfields Park, Shepherdess Walk Park and Springfield Park.

The project included three community planting days, working with Tree Musketeers, 10x Greener, and local faith groups.

When we plant a tree, the tree teaches us that if we do go on, we can make a difference, we can bring new life into the world

Rabbi Herschel Gluck, project participant

Friends of Albert Road Recreation Ground (FARRG) were awarded £5,615 to plant 25 trees, 45 shrubs and 50 hedgerow saplings at Albert Road Recreation Ground in Wood Green, working in partnership with the London Borough of Haringey, The Conservation Volunteers and The Pavilion Sports & Cafe.

110 volunteers took part in the project, including 60 children from local schools and many local residents who had not previously participated in events in the park. City Hall's transport team also joined FARRG for a volunteer tree planting day in November.

Ingrebourne Valley Ltd, working in partnership with the Forestry Commission was awarded £20,000 to plant 10,250 trees to create a new 4.49 hectare community woodland in the Thames Chase Community Forest in Havering.

The new woodland extends Berwick Glades and Berwick Woods, and link them to Bonnets Wood, creating new connections for people and wildlife. A community planting day was held on 19 March with local volunteers, children from nearby schools and young people from the London Fire Cadets.

London Borough of Hillingdon was awarded £7,500 to plant 70 trees in five green spaces across the borough, working in partnership with Glendale Countryside and The Forward Trust.

Trees were planted at Hayes End Recreation Ground, Fassnidge Park, Rockingham Recreation Ground, Barra Hall Park and Dowding Park, including an orchard and an arboretum. The project worked with the Forward Trust, which works with ex-offenders to develop new skills for employment.

Sunshine of Hounslow was awarded £11,982 to plant 51 trees on its its community allotment in Hounslow.

The project cleared an overgrown area of the allotments and involved 21 volunteers, several of whom were new to the organisation.

Although I’ve been retired for a quite few years, I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with Sunshine of Hounslow and become a member of their committee. It was a pleasure to volunteer and we are looking forward for future generations to enjoy the trees for many years to come

Ron, project volunteer

Find out more on the Sunshine of Hounslow website.

Loughborough Estate Management Board, working in partnership with Urban Canopy and local residents, planted 330 hedge whips and 31 trees around the Loughborough Estate in Brixton.

The project links green spaces between tower blocks on the estate. Planting took place on a number of community planting days, with over 40 people involved.

London Borough of Lambeth was awarded £13,469 to plant 1,370 trees in Norwood Park in West Norwood.

The project planted a new hedge, and a copse of trees on land that was once part of the Great North Wood. Over 150 volunteers helped to plant the trees through a series of community planting days, including over 100 children from local schools.

Trees for Cities, working in partnership with London Borough of Lewisham, was awarded £13,125 to plant 2,009 trees to extend an area of woodland at Beckenham Place Park. The new area of woodland will reconnect green spaces within the park and help to reduce flood risk.

Most of the planting took place on 2 December during London's biggest ever tree planting weekend, with over 130 volunteers taking part. A further 64 children from Coinsborough College and Rangefield Primary School took part in planting workshops. Over 1,000 additional trees were planted at Beckenham Place Park this winter as part of London Borough of Lewisham's Green Capital funded project.

It was fantastic to be part of the large tree planting project at Beckenham Place. We all enjoyed the planting saplings, it was well organised event with lots to do so it was very satisfying knowing at the end of day that our hard work would be of benefit to the local community as well as the environment.

Project volunteer

Find out more on Trees for Cities' website.

City of London Corporation was awarded £14,284 to plant 38 trees in West Ham Park. The project planted multi-stem willow and hazel trees, as well as hornbeams and an understory of native shrubs.

A public planting day was held on 1 December, and an education pack is being developed for local schools to use the space to learn about wildlife, native trees and coppicing. Horticultural apprentices from the City of London also assisted with the project, developing new skills.

It’s so important to improve the way the East End is with its trees. This park is a huge park, it’s a very liked facility for local people. Many people don’t have outsides and being able to come into the green and see the trees...improve the canopy here is so important

Roger Jones, Friends of West Ham Park

Find out more on the City of London website.

Trees for Cities, working in partnership with Redbridge Council and Vision Redbridge Culture & Leisure, was awarded £40,500 to plant 15,000 trees to create a new community woodland at Forest Road Recreation Ground in Hainault.

The majority of planting took place on 1 December as the flagship event of London's biggest ever tree planting weekend, with over 350 volunteers taking part, including the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Over 800 people were involved in the project in total, including 300 children from John Bramston Primary School and Fullwood Primary School.

It was wonderful at the end of the day to look at the overall impact and feel I was a part of something great

Project volunteer

Find out more on Trees for Cities' website.

London Borough of Redbridge was awarded £8,222 to plant 36 trees at eight locations across the borough, including residential areas and school grounds. Trees were planted at:

• Avanti Court Primary School
• Knox Sports Field
• Oakdale Infants School
• Oakdale Junior School
• Fields Park Crescent
• Swindon Close
• The Lowe
• Tiptree Crescent
• The Whitings

540 children and 37 adult volunteers helped to plant the trees across four community planting days and three school workshops. Participants will be encouraged to adopt trees and take part in the borough's community gardening scheme.

The tree planting sessions were very well organised from the initial site visits and preparation of the ground to the practical planting session with the children. All the children were thoroughly absorbed in the session which was informative, interesting and age appropriate.

Cate Paczysnka, Associate Headteacher, Oakdale Infant School

Trees for Cities, working in partnership with London Borough of Redbridge, was awarded £22,295 to plant 50 trees in Seven Kings Park in Ilford.

The project focused on avenues and legacy planting for future generations. Over 200 people were involved in the project, including 70 children from Seven Kings Primary School and Aldborough Primary School, and over 100 volunteers at a community planting day on 3 November 2018.

I gained hands on experience about how to go about planting trees and how to maintain them. Lots of people joined into help whilst walking past. Having lived in the area for most of my life I met and chatted with people I had never met before.

Project volunteer

London Borough of Sutton was awarded £16,885 to plant 260 trees in Reigate Avenue Recreation Ground. The project created a new 0.7 hecatre woodland area along a 500m pathway running the length of the recreation ground.

30 students from Glenthorne High School helped to plant trees as part of the project launch day.

People want more trees and what’s particularly important are planting days like today with kids from a local school. Now more than ever, kids have a greater environmental awareness and are interested in seeing different trees. Having a tree planting day here in Reigate Recreation Park is important as there is nothing here, just a green field

Jed Dwight, Stonecot ward councillor

London Borough of Tower Hamlets was awarded £5,023 to plant 36 trees to create two orchards in the Ecology Park within Mile End Park.

The project transformed two unused, inaccessible areas of the park into nature-rich orchards that can be used by the public throughout the year.

Friends of Higham Hill Park were awarded £10,263 to plant 30 trees to create a new arboretum in Higham Hill Park.

The arboretum will support wildlife, increase canopy cover and make the park more attractive. 30 adults and 10 children took part in the community planting day, along with Stella Creasy MP

The sense of community on the day was fantastic and I ended up working with, and speaking to, many people who I had never done so before. I love the idea that I have been part of something that will flourish over time. It makes me feel very proud to live in this area and Walthamstow in general

Daniel Geneen, project volunteer

Faiths Forum for London, planted 77 trees across 20 London boroughs, working in partnership with 84 different organisations, including local faith groups. Planting sites included Harlesden Town Garden in Brent, Finsbury Park in Haringey and Latchmere Recreation Ground in Kingston-upon-Thames.

The Forum will also create a simple tree planting toolkit to support faith groups to develop their own projects.

We now have a constant reminder in Eastcote of our sense of community cohesion promoting harmony, peace and tolerance. We hope these trees will be enjoyed by everyone and for generations to come

Dr Deesha Chadha, Hindu Forum of Britain

PADI has planted 230 trees at three schools across London, including Alexandra Junior School in Bromley, and Drapers' Brookside Junior School in Havering. Students from the schools helped to plant the trees, which included apples, pears and aspen.