Generous resident gifts school children 150 trees

A Sunderland man who grew 150 trees from acorns and conkers kindly gifted them to three local schools for National Tree Week.

Roger Smith, of South Hylton, has been using acorns and conkers that he has been collecting over the past year to grow seedlings at home.

Mr Smith, 56, reached out to Sunderland City Council to find out how he could put the trees to good use, and they discussed tasking local school children with planting them in their communities.

After engaging with schools in the local area, St Anne's, St Cuthbert's and Broadway Junior school all took up the opportunity and received approximately 50 whips to engage children in National Tree Week.

Mr Smith said: "Like a lot of people, I felt a bit helpless in the face of all the news stories about the impact of global warming, with worse effects forecast for the future if we don't "act now".

"I started picking up the odd acorn a few years ago and, once I'd worked out how easy it is to get them to grow, I got into the habit of planting them every autumn, to the point where I had the 150 that the schools have taken this year.

"The hard thing if you end up with a garden full of saplings, like I have, is finding the right place to plant them. Because trees live so long, knowing they'll be left undisturbed where you plant them can be difficult. 

"That's why I was so grateful to Sunderland Council for arranging this planting, and to the three schools involved for finding the trees a home. Everyone involved can take pride in doing something positive that will make a difference."

To kick off the annual tree-planting season, thousands of trees across the UK are planted each year as part of National Tree Week by the country's conservation sector, volunteer groups, and all-around tree lovers.

The planting also links into Sunderland's role as part of the North East Community Forrest, which aims to plant up to 500 hectares of trees across the region by 2025.

During the upcoming 2022/23 planting season, the city's involvement in the initiative will see it plant trees and hedgerows in a number of sites across the city.

Sunderland City Council has recently launched a Climate Friendly Schools initiative which aims to help enhance the curriculum to ensure young people learn more about Sunderland's low carbon journey and how they can help make climate-positive changes across the city.

Cllr Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: "We're thrilled that the three schools are taking part in the Climate Friendly Schools project and were able to join in with the National Tree Week celebrations.  

"As a city, we are proud of our efforts to increase environmental awareness and encourage positive climate action among residents, especially our young people, and projects like this are pivotal to helping us do just that. It is incredible to see the community come together for this and how receptive the young people are to getting involved and making such positive changes to our environment."

Mrs Harrison, head teacher at St Anne's RC Primary School, said: "We are delighted to be taking part in the tree planting initiative here at St Anne's School, with the kind help and donation from Roger Smith.

"All of the children are so excited to plant the trees and watch them grow over the years. It is extremely important that we include the children in such initiatives to show how imperative trees are to our environment to grow a greener future together."

For more information on National Tree Week, visit: https://treecouncil.org.uk/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week/