Treemendous support for local charity

Over 200 people braved the winter chill and attended the planting of a new woodland area with the Forest of Marston Vale at the weekend. The Charity began planting their new woodland site in Cranfield, which will be known as Waypost Wood, on Sunday 12^th February and was delighted with the public support on the day. Local residents were joined by people who travelled from across the county and even as far afield as Suffolk and Manchester and planted over 2000 trees on the day.

The new woodland is part of the creation of the Forest of Marston Vale – a community forest spanning 61 square miles between Bedford and Milton Keynes. The Charity has already planted over 1 million trees since the early 1990s, transforming this area which had been scarred by industry into a thriving landscape where people are proud to live, work and play. There is still more work to be done and more trees to plant as the Charity has a big vision to plant another 5 million trees.

Helping the Charity to achieve this vision of 5 million more trees were individuals, families and companies large and small, including Wooden Hill Coffee Company based in Ampthill, Cranfield University’s Green Team and a team from the University branch of Santander, all wanting to be part of the creation and future of the Forest of Marston Vale. Many had made donations through the Charity’s Dedicate a Tree scheme and others made donations on the day.

“It was a very special day,” said the Charity’s Fundraising Officer, Robina Ballard-Davis. “My highlight of the day was talking to Freya who was immensely proud of planting 8 trees and giving them each a name. She was looking forward to coming back and visiting George, Alfie, Rosie and the others and watching them grow.”

The Charity also hopes the day will inspire more people to join them as Volunteers. “There are so many ways people can get involved and help us”, says Robina, “there are lots of practical, physical tasks in our woodlands which we need help with, but we also need help to fundraise. This includes people helping us at fundraising events, but also organizing events of their own to raise money to help us plant more trees.”

To find out more about how you can help the Charity, contact Robina on 01234 762605 or email robina.b-d@marstonvale.org.