BUSINESSES are being urged to play their part and plant a tree as part of the celebrations next year of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne.
The Queen’s Green Canopy – Platinum Jubilee is an environment project that will create a permanent, living tree dedication to Her Majesty. Community, voluntary and cultural groups, schools and parish and town councils are being encouraged to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’.
Now businesses are also being encouraged to take part as part of their work towards increasing sustainability and their corporate and social responsibility activity.
HM Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire Countess Howe – the Queen’s representative in the county – is patron of Heart of Bucks and vice president of Milton Keynes Community Foundation. “We are seeing a surge in attention around urban tree planting, not just because trees are beautiful but because we realise that trees are an important part of resilience, health, and happiness,” she said.
“This is something the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated, as we seek solace from the nature around our homes and in our cities.”
Julia Upton, the former High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, (left) joins Countess Howe, YMCA MK chief executive Simon Green and YMCA MK resident Danny to plant the first tree of Milton Keynes’ contribution to the Queen’s Green Canopy.
Julia Upton, a former High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and ex-chief executive of Milton Keynes Community Foundation, is a Deputy Lord Lieutenant and playing a role in organising the Green Canopy initiative in the county.
She said: “If businesses have their own land and wish to make this an employee initiative to plant and celebrate, this is enthusiastically welcome and very positive. The only caveat is sustainability – the tree(s) need looking after.”
Milton Keynes Council is to plant 400 trees in public spaces as part of the project
The Community Action organisations in Milton Keynes and Bucks, along with the Milton Keynes and Heart of Bucks Community Foundations, MK, are working to ensure that as many voluntary, community and cultural groups across the county as possible participate with planting trees and if they wish, create a local celebration around this activity.
The two community foundations have made grants available to eligible groups in Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire to participate in the project, that will see many thousands of trees planted in 2022.
To find out more, visit www.queensgreencanopy.org
