‘Trees for Streets’ hopes to plant 250,000 new street trees nationwide in the next ten years, reports Cassandra Oliver

Have you noticed any new trees in your area? If not, you soon might, because residents of Haringey have been pioneers in a new, national scheme designed to fill our streets with trees.

Our ‘Trees for Streets’ scheme allows people to sponsor the planting of new, semi-mature trees in urban areas. We launched the campaign in 2021 and aim to plant 250,000 new street trees nationwide in the next ten years. We’re part of the national urban tree charity Trees for Cities and the scheme is funded by DEFRA’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund and City Bridge Trust.

Trees have the power to transform our neighbourhoods. Not only are they needed to help combat climate change, but they also bring so many more amazing benefits that can be enjoyed immediately: a positive effect on our mental and physical health, reduced air pollution, protection from flooding and the creation of shaded areas, to name just a few.

Plenty of people have taken the opportunity to add some green to their streets. A brother and sister from Tottenham sponsored a new tree in memory of their late parents; local businesses have given back to the community by sponsoring trees; residents of Lynmouth Road in Fortis Green raised enough to plant the length of their street, and those on Albany Road in Finsbury Park planted nine new trees. The ward councillors for West Green even crowdfunded enough to plant trees outside six primary schools – a way for the whole community to thank teachers and support staff for all their invaluable work during the pandemic.

So far, over 250 trees have been funded by Haringey residents, and requests keep coming in every day. The council’s tree experts have planted varieties like cherry, crab apple, hawthorn, whitebeam and sweet gum, which are perfect for attracting birds, bees and other wildlife. The new trees are already around 4m high and are sturdy, low-maintenance and suit local conditions. Some volunteers have taken on the responsibility of watering these trees, too, which is crucial to help them get established.

If you’d like to get involved, it’s really easy to do with our app. Just select the location where you’d like to plant a tree and make a sponsorship request. We’ll forward it to the tree experts and let you know when your request has been confirmed. Demand is high, so we recommend getting your request in early to get your tree planted in the coming planting season – we don’t want anyone to miss out!

We’ve been blown away by the community spirit in Haringey and we’re grateful to every single individual who has got involved so far. We can’t wait to see what’s yet to come!

To sponsor your own street tree, visit: treesforstreets.org/haringey

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