Special tree for The Queen joins thousands sprouting up across the Borough!

More than 7,500 new trees have been planted across the Borough - plus one special one for The Queen!

Today the Mayor of Stockton-on-Tees, Councillor Kevin Faulks, joined the Lord-Lieutenant of North Yorkshire to 'Plant a Tree for the Jubilee' in Ingleby Barwick, as part of The Queen's Green Canopy (QGC).

With a focus on planting sustainably, the QGC is encouraging the planting of trees across the UK to mark Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee and create a legacy in honour of The Queen's leadership of the Nation.

The QGC will also dedicate a network of 70 Ancient Woodlands across the country and identify 70 Ancient Trees to celebrate Her Majesty's 70 years of service. 

The Mayor and Lord-Lieutenant were joined by enthusiastic schoolchildren from Barley Fields Primary School at today's event.

Said the Mayor: "The Queen's Green Canopy is such a wonderful and important Platinum Jubilee initiative which will benefit future generations and remember Her Majesty's extraordinary reign for years to come. 

"In recent weeks we've seen how passionate people are about trees with the fantastic response to our own ambitious Trees in Stockton-on-Tees project. Both of these initiatives are helping to raise awareness of the importance of trees and provide opportunities to celebrate them." 

Today's event comes as the first wave of planting is nearing completion in Trees in Stockton-on-Tees, which aims to increase the Borough's canopy cover and help tackle 'green inequality' in more deprived areas over the next two years.

The popular project has captured the public's imagination and has seen people of all ages and backgrounds donning their wellies over the past four months to help plant 7,500 young trees at sites across the Borough, including parks, green spaces and school grounds.

In addition, by the end of this planting season the Council will have planted 300 large 'standard' trees and 300 fruit trees.

The Trees in Stockton-on-Tees programme has been developed in partnership with national charity Trees for Cities - a partner of The Queen's Green Canopy - and is funded through the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, the Urban Tree Challenge Fund and the Local Authority Treescapes Fund.   

As well as bringing multiple benefits to communities the project -  which will see nearly 16,000 new trees in total - will contribute to the Council's ambitions for achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions as trees absorb carbon. 

Residents, schools, charities and businesses can once again join in the tree planting when the project resumes in the winter for the next planting season. In addition there will be a number of exciting tree-related events and activities taking place over the spring and summer.

For Council news direct to your inbox sign up to our My Council Newsletter.