This is a Coventry City Council report ….
Coventry City Council is the latest local authority to join the Trees for Streets National Street Tree Sponsorship Scheme, which aims to plant thousands of trees in streets and parks across Coventry.
Trees for Streets is the national street tree sponsorship scheme from the urban tree charity Trees for Cities, funded by the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund and City Bridge Trust. This “Tech for Good” project uses technology to empower people and makes it easy for residents and organisations to get involved in greening their communities.
Its mission is to fund the planting of more than 250,000 additional street trees nationwide over the next 10 years, by hosting online tree sponsorship schemes on behalf of local councils and delivering local promotion and engagement activity to bring these schemes to life.
Coventry City Council has been working with Trees for Cities for a number of years, and so joining the Trees for Streets scheme is the natural next step, and builds on its existing work to make the city greener, more liveable and a place where nature can thrive. Over the last 2 years the Council, together with Trees for Cities has planted over 16,000 native species trees including Oak and Field Maple in areas including Longford, Allesley and Henley
The Council is working to plant a tree for every person that lives in Coventry by 2032 and last year planted approx. 20,000 trees.
Cllr Patricia Hetherton, Cabinet Member for City Services said: “We’re excited to join the Trees for Streets national scheme, and make it easier for residents, organisations and businesses to get involved and support tree planting in all areas of Coventry.
“There is plenty of scope for street tree planting across the whole city, so we hope that locals will really take this scheme to heart and take the opportunity to green their streets. I especially hope that communities will see this as a way of working together to green their neighbourhoods. Trees are good for our physical and mental health and street trees especially, help to provide an every day connection.”
Why are street trees important?
Street trees do so much for us:
- improve air quality by acting like natural filters
- capture carbon dioxide and produce oxygen
- absorb air pollution
- improve our health and wellbeing – both physically and mentally
- provide a home for wildlife
- protect us from flooding
- create shading and cooling – so important in towns and cities
- make the neighbourhoods where we live that bit nicer
The Trees for Streets online app makes it easy for anyone to sponsor a tree in their neighbourhood by making a request to their local council, empowering people to take an active role in greening their streets.
Residents can choose to sponsor a tree in their own street, or in their neighbourhood. The council then checks if the location is suitable, and if it is, arrangements are made to plant a tree the following winter: the best time to plant young trees to ensure they grow and thrive.
People can also sponsor Celebration Trees in one of Coventry’s parks and green spaces, where everyone can benefit.
Celebration Trees can be sponsored for all sorts of reasons: as a lasting and sustainable memorial to a loved one, to mark a special occasion, as a unique and meaningful gift, or just because you love trees and want to give something back to your community.
Simeon Linstead, Project Director of Trees for Streets explains further:
“Trees for Streets enables people to make a difference to the world immediately on their doorstep, by working together with their local council. It’s fantastic to have Coventry on board as our first partner In the Midlands, and we hope to inspire and empower the local community to take a leading role in greening the streets of their city.”
How it works:
- Go to the Trees for Streets website – visit Coventry’s tree sponsorship page.
- Choose the location for your sponsored tree on the map – you can pick a spot in your street or neighbourhood.
- Answer a few questions about the location and give your details
- Coventry City Council plants your tree – if your sponsorship is approved, the council will plant the tree the following autumn/winter.
This year, sponsors can also add their sponsored tree to the Queen’s Green Canopy, and dedicate it to Her Majesty for the Platinum Jubilee. This option is offered on the confirmation page of the Trees for Streets online app, just before the sponsorship donation is made. It’s really simple to do, and doesn’t cost anything extra.
Beyond sponsoring a tree, there are lots of other ways for people to get involved. Once each street tree is planted, it will need watering every week throughout the summer for 3 years to give it the best chance of survival, and any litter or weeds will need removing too, to make sure it thrives.
Find out more and get involved.